i'm randy hanson and in today's news about a city residents can see their transportation tax dollars in action this week as the city's contractors began work on a new sidewalk project and in grass valley summer weather has sparked construction of sidewalk improvements and new signals along ridge road progress at a medical office building on sera college drive and a new medical clinic on east main work was made possible by a voter approved half cent sales tax in november more than eighty percent of city voters passed a half cent sales tax in november to pay for the improvements don coming out with gone cunningham construction said the sixteen thousand dollars project could be finished by the end of next week road improvements will start about a week later and last through mid october he said resurfacing planned for langley avenue and dawn road and ridge road and zion street a list of other projects funded by sales taxes that are slated for this year although that list could change an event a city has contracted with central valley paving of roseville for asphalt work stretch of ridge road and grasp ali has been getting new sidewalks curbs and gutters as part of safe routes to school state grants and the traffic light is expected to follow he could be ready in about two weeks said city adding bike lanes also is planned for the same roadway geyser said the restriking has not been scheduled also construction work on a traffic light ridge road the intersection as a four way stop required of the developer as part of the city's approval of the morgan ranch expansion some residents of the development have criticized the signal plan saying it isn't necessary traffic backs up at the intersection for about fifteen minutes in early morning and mid afternoon when you're brought in a valid union high school starts and lets out the overall traffic volume might be higher at idaho maryland road road avenue and the highway forty nine twenty off ramp or the city installed stop signs earlier this year instead of traffic signals but at certain points during the morning rush hour and lunch time routes road and sierra college drive congestion is a big problem kaiser added construction of a medical office building out to sea are called as dr roundabout has begun grading work continued intermittently starting in the winter but should be finished by the beginning of next year said jeff johnson developer of pacific land enterprises the building is expected to meet a high demand for new medical office spaces in the area and in another story nevada county officials said thursday they know of no sex offenders in the county who are in violation of the new residency requirement place put in place last fall by voter initiated proposition eighty three straight wire to twenty one hundred recently paroled sex offenders are living illegally near california schools and parks the state corrections secretary said this week the california department of corrections and rehabilitation will give the state new proly is forty five days to find a new place to live a policy adopted by the corrections department in late june it's a huge undertaking said county's sheriff's investigation unit administrative assistant nancy anderson who keeps track of sex offenders in the sheriff's jurisdiction the residency requirement will apply only to offenders paroled after jessica's law was passed on election day november seventh two thousand and six we want to public we want to be public that we have some people who are out of compliance but we are fully committed and the governor is fully committed to complying with the housing component of jessica's law director of the corrections department told the associated press wednesday voters passed the jessica's law ballot initiative with seventy percent approval it prohibits registered sex offenders from living within two thousand feet or two fifths of a mile of a school or park according to the investigation by the union in november at least ten sex offenders appearing on the state's megan's law website live within two thousand feet of school or parks in nevada county there could be more according to sheriff's office some sex offenders must register with law enforcement that are not listed on m depending on the nature of their offenses none of these offenders were paroled after proper eighty three was voted in according to the sheriff's records so they would not have to move under the state's new residency requirements valley city limits the release dates of registrants anderson said are subject to change one sex offender moved to grass valley after his release from prison and the last few years he also has moved out of the area police reported registered sex offenders must inform their parole officers of their addresses within twenty four hours of the release from prison the parole agent has to verify the address is not within two thousand feet of a school or park anderson stated to two thousand foot law is also posted in the lobby of the pro office in the poorly is informed of the law while he is still incarcerated they are definitely made aware of this requirement a total of one hundred seventy one sex offenders live in nevada county including thirty five in nevada city area and twenty six in a grass valley city limits quoted to anderson in grass valley police department opponents of prop eighty three h the measure would push sex offenders out of town and cities disproportionately affecting rural areas that would become a refuge for poor ollie's correction officials previously warned that the residency restrictions effectively us from living in many of the california cities there are many communities where housing is a problem told the associated press the state corrections department recently completed a review of the registered addresses of sex offenders who have been paroled since the november election who refuse to move face the possibility of being sent back to prison for violation of their parole and said correctional fishelson will begin on going through the list case by case to determine if all the twenty one hundred parolees who appeared to be in violation of residency provisions are indeed living too close to parks and schools i don't know how successful they will be in enforcing this the department began reviewing to address dresses after the co author of jessica's law state senator george runner republican from lancaster michigan about the initiative implementation i'm disappointed they did not seem to have an orderly plan to place from the very start runner told the associated press runner said he doubted that the law will force sex offenders onto the street but said he was willing to amend it if housing becomes a problem and also defended the department's actions since the law took effect he told the associated press that officials had to wait for the outcome of legal challenges over which pull these were affected by jessica's law courts have ruled that it applies only to inmates freed after the measure was approved california proposition eighty three was named for jessica lunsford the nine year old florida girl who was kidnapped raped and suffocated b sex offender in two thousand and five or is now awaiting sentencing and now in another local to those the truckie downtown merchants association is organizing an event that will encourage residents within the triangle of truckee incline and the west shore to think local local and buy local to achieve that goal the association is creating what's called downtown truckee tuesdays starting july thirty first day events again is to stimulate the local economy we want our locals to be thinking local said vice president mr young of the truckie downtown merchants association how do i support my own community how do i relocate localize my dollars instead of going down to reno to buy a gift there are some amazing resources in our town young feels confident downtown truckee tuesday will not just be a summer event but will continue throughout the year we see the downtown truckee tuesdays has been beyond july beyond august beyond september we're requesting permitting from the town of truckee for the rest of the year to march association in sierra business council learned of the idea from a workshop put on by the business alliance for local living eck an economy the business council joined alliance network ensuring more resources are allocated toward the planning of the event the target audience for t tuesday is local residents to merchant association board member joan polar said she will not discriminate against tourists whoever comes and it will be the same we're trying to do it on a night that locals will most likely come polar stated she said she plans on keeping her store joy and stained glass open later on truckee tuesday would offer special sales and may serve wine and cheese puller said she believes having the event on tuesday rather than on a weekend with glitter do more to the locals i just think it's a really good idea because of a lot of times people say the stores aren't open late and locals who are getting off of work can't really get down to the downtown shops  tuesday night is a really good idea because people will know that stores are open that particular night but shops and restaurants are not the only and it is wanted to participate in a local boy and dated event members of the committee for truckee tuesday said they have been talking to nonprofit organizations that might participate in the event they're eager and willing to come and set up shop in downtown it may be an informational thing because it's a boo let that part organically emerge let them figure out what works best to connect with the locals young confirmed that it doesn't downtown truckee stories have committed to participating in the event we want this to be organized and at the same time we're talking about collective leadership we're bringing an organized concept and asking people to bring their own creative intelligence to the table and to make this thing as good as it can be and now the police blotter the pictures in the blotter are not from actual events but used for visual aid only in grass valley police department on wednesday at twelve twenty six pm a caller from highway one seventy four and zero first street reported a non injury accident at two thirty nine pm a call from the business on a one hundred block of mill street reported a juvenile attempted to shoplift the boy took earrings and then when he was confronted he put them back and left on foot police contacted the caller four zero eight pm a caller from the two hundred block of mill street reported a man was lying behind a it was a black lab neutered and very friendly police notified animal control at five fifty one pm a caller from a grocery store and one out a block of nails reported loiterers be free to leave although they were asked seven lane reported a man was sleeping next to a dumpster police contacted a twenty nine year old man and arrested him on suspicion of public drunkenness at seven twenty nine am calling from seven out of block of doors drive reported theft of items from vehicles at seven fifty nine a m a man called under two hundred block of south school street to report a woman was screaming at him to drive him insane and a fourteen a caller from two hundred block of south school street to report the woman was screaming again police determined all was quiet for now at eight sixteen p m a call from a department store on the seven out of block of freeman lane reported last prevention staff interviewed some employees on monday we got to tell from the store and the call wanted to follow a report about a county sheriff's office on wednesday at ten o eight a m the caller from the thirteen thousand block of kill am mine road reported a man in an orange jumpsuit was just seen walking across the property dispatchers notified the california youth authority and they checked their population they did not believe the man was one of their people all inmates were accounted for the man was possibly prejean a worker i don't know could be a one thirty four p m caller from thirteen thousand block of last trail report of prescription medications was drawn deputies to report for possession of a counterfeit prescription form and report  from the twenty four thousand block of highway forty nine i called to report three guys were holding one guy down ten feet from the roadway deputies responded to him and staff from the hall for juveniles were controlling a client at nine forty five p m a woman from eleven thousand block is here a circle call to report a man hit another man in the face deputies arrived and is a man who is willing to press charges deputies provided a ride to one of the man to pleasant street and wall street and on vandalism nevada city police department on thursday at twelve fifty four am law enforcement was looking for a runaway sixteen year old girl last seen on wednesday in downtown demand firing of u s attorneys the washington post reports a white house is insisting the justice department will never be allowed to pursue congressional contempt charges once the president invokes executive privilege democrats are preparing contempt proceedings against current and former administrative officials over the white house's refusal to release documents and allow testimony federal law requires contempt citations to go through the u s attorney for the district of columbia the white house says congress has no authority to force  s attorney to pursue the charges if the president decides executive privilege covers testimony or documents a senior administration official said the white house stance would make any congressional contempt citations a futile and purely political act in response to house oversight chair henry waxman said this makes a mockery of the idea that no one is above the law has filled the next step would be just disbanding the justice department and another story top military and administrative officials have announced a new date which they want congress to assess the war in iraq november on thursday if the commander in the daily operations in iraq lieutenant general raymond of dariel said the pentagon's reports for september would be too soon to assess the actual conditions on the ground president bush and republican leaders reputedly cited the september date in their pleas to congress rejected his legislation setting a timetable for a partial withdrawal the measure collapsed this week after democrats failed to overcome a republican filibuster and another story meanwhile the u s ambassador to iraq ryan crocker urged lawmakers to downplay judging the war by the benchmarks they have set speaking from baghdad proper crocker said that in many cases the benchmarks do not serve as reliable measures of everything that's important crocker also gave his assessment of the situation on the ground u s ambassador to iraq ryan crocker stated and if there is one word i would use to sum up the atmosphere in iraq on the streets in the countryside in the neighborhoods and at national level the word would be fear meanwhile in the house the antiwar out of iraq caucus has announced it will no longer vote for any war funding unless the money is spent exclusively for withdraw s troops from iraq and a letter delivered to president bush on thursday seventy congress members right we agree with a clear and growing majority of the american people who are opposed to continued open ended u s military operations in iraq and believe it is  unacceptable for you to continue to unilaterally impose these staggering cost and the soaring debt on americans currently and for generations to come texas congress member ron paul was the lone republican to sign a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought to valerie plame wilson and joseph wilson against vice president dick cheney and other top administration officials on thursday u s district john plame and retaliation for her husband's public criticism of the motives for invading iraq and a statement joseph wilson said we brought this suit because we strongly believe the palled politicizing the teligent ultimately serves only to undermine the security of our nation today's decision is just a first step in what we have always known would be a long legal battle and less than a month after stepping down as british prime minister tony blair has begun his new job in a top  envoy for the middle east quartet of the u s russia european union and u n role will be limited to imposing reforms on the palestinian government he spoke thursday at a meeting in portugal tony blair said it is imperative that we succeed and i am prepared to try to help in whatever way i can and i think that an end to the most important attitude for me to carry into this job and i always think that there is a real will and desire if people can find the right way forward to get to that two state solution that people want and just imagine for a moment if this process were moving forward again just think how much hope there will be the bush administration has already announced blair will make no effort to end israelis israel's attacks on gaza strip or curb blair's first day he came as newly released documents showed media magnate rupert murdoch had previously unknown expensive had previously unknown extensive access to blair during his time in office according to the british cabinet office blair and murd six telephone discussions over a twenty month period all at pivotal moments of blair's time as prime minister through those conversations were held in the week leading up to the u s and british invasion of iraq in march of two thousand and three including one called on the day board parent company dow jones has backed a deal which now awaits final approval from controlling shareholders on thursday dal board of directors member died or one holes of morning announced his resignation over the boards and government of the sale statement but also brink said i'm very worried that dow jones he make values will long term strongly suffer after the proposed sale and in another story in darfur a team of international geologist nothing else so now if you find water for the farmers if you find water in addition to that to the nomads if you find water in addition to these two additional agricultural production to feed them to give them grain then you resolve the problem completely up to four hundred thousand people have been killed in a conflict between sudanese backed millet militias and rebel groups in a report last month the u n development program said widespread environmental problems are the root of the violence and homeland security secretary michael chertoff has announced the government is set to begin building a controversial texas border wall later this year in an interview with the houston chronicle s