dot org i'm randy hanson and in today's local news that a city residents can see their transportation tax dollars in action this week has the city contractors begin to work on a new sidewalk  project and grass valley summer weather has sparked construction of sidewalk improvements and a new signal along ridge road progress at a medical office and armchair college dr and a new medical  cruise started building a new sidewalk at langley avenue between brock and don't roads on tuesday nevada city engineer bill falcone said the modest project is just and its large t resurfacing an improvement work was made possible by voters approved sales tax in november more than eighty percent city voters passed the half cent sales tax in november to pay for improvements don cunningham don cunningham construction said to 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 resurfacing planned for the only avenue and don't road and ridge road and zion street had to list of other projects funded by sales taxes that are slated for this year so that list could change that of city has contracted with central valley paving of roseville for the asphalt work stretch of ridge road and grass valley he has been getting new sidewalks curbs and gutters as part of his safe routes to schools state grant and the traffic light is expected to follow it could be ready in about two weeks said bike lanes also as planned in the same roadway three striping has not been scheduled also construction work on traffic lights at ridge road and sarah college drive were four way stop west is underway the intersection was a four way stop or has 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 the early morning and mid afternoon when nearby nevada union high school starts and lets out the overall traffic volume might be higher at idaho maryland lowed 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 which road and sierra college drive congestion is a big problem construction of a medical office building at the sierra college drive roundabout has also begun grading work continued intermittently starting in the winter it should be finished by the beginning of next year said jeff johnson developer of pacific land enterprises the building is expected to meet high demand for the new medical office space in the area and in another story nevada county officials said thursday we know of no sense offenders in the county who are in violation of new residency requirements put in place last fall by voters initiated proposition eighty three statewide about twenty one hundred recently poor old sex offenders are living illegally near california schools and parks and state corrections secretary said this week the california department of corrections and rehabilitation will give the state's new parolees forty five days to find a new place to live the policy adopted by corrections department in late june it's a huge undertaking said county sheriff's investigation unit administrative assistant nancy anderson who keeps track of sex offenders in the sheriff's jurisdiction so 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 be public that we have some people who are out of compliance but are we are fully committed and the governor is fully committed to comply with the housing component of jessica's law james tilton director of the corrections department told associated press on wednesday the orders passed to jessica la ballot initiative was seventy percent approval that prohibits registered sex offenders from living within two thousand feet or two fifths of a mile of a school or park according to investigation by the union in november at least ten sex offenders appearing on the state's megan law website live within two thousand feet of a school or a park in the vatican city they could be more according to the sheriff's office some sex offenders must register with law enforcement  listed on megan's law website depending on the nature of their offenses none of these offenders are 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 the state but parole unit notified anderson of one local sex offender who was paroled since november two thousand and six he now lives in placer county he was released july first from creek state prison in i own one more local offender in chuck wallach valley state prison in blythe is expected to be paroled september seventh it is not known where he plans to live after his release from prison so he had formally registered within the grass valley city limits the release dates of registrants are subject to change one sex offender moved to grass valley after his release from prison in the last few years and he also has moved out of the area grass valley police reported registered sex offenders must inform their parole officer of their address within twenty four hours of their release from prison the parole agent has to anderson and a grass valley police department opponents of prop eighty three had warned the major would push sex offenders out of towns and cities disproportionately affecting rural areas that would become a refuge for correction officer was previously warned that the residency restrictions effectively prevent proly from living in many of the california cities there are many communities where housing is a problem the state corrections department recently completed a review of this registered addresses of sex offenders who have been paroled since the november election parolees who refuse to move face the possibility of being sent back to prison for violation of their parole correction officials will begin going through the list of 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 as anderson stated the dipetta department began reviewing the addresses after the courts are jessica's law state senator george runner republican from lancaster michigan asked about the initiatives implementation he stated i'm disappointed they did not seem to have an orderly plan in place from the very start runner said he doubted the law will have forced sex offenders street but said he is willing to amend it housing becomes a problem tilton 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 the poor ollie's were affected by jessica's law courts have ruled that it applies only to inmates freed after the measure was approved california's proposition eight hundred three was named for jessica lunsford the nine year old florida girl who was kidnapped raped and suffocated by a convicted sex offender in two thousand and five her killer is now awaiting sentencing the truck in downtown merchants association is organizing an event that will encourage residents roots in the triangle of truckee incline and the west shore to think local be local and by local to achieve that goal the association is creating what is called downtown truckies tuesday starting july thirty first events in is to stimulate the local economy we want our locals to be thinking locals said vice president to young of the truckie downtown merchants association how do i support my own community how do i relocate lies my dollars instead of going down to reno to buy a gift there are some amazing resources in our town one feels confident the downtown truckee tuesday will not just be a summer event will continue throughout the year we see the downtown truckee tuesdays as being beyond july beyond august and beyond september young stated we're requesting permitting from the town of permits from the town of truckee for the rest of the year young said the merchants association and the sierra business council learned of the idea from a workshop put on by the business alliance for local living economies the business council joined the alliance network ensuring more resources allocated towards planning of the event the target audience for truckies tuesday is local residents though merchants association board member joan poehler said she will not discriminate against tourists whoever comes in it will be the same we're trying to do it on a night that locals and most likely come out poor stated she said she plans on keeping her store joined stained glass open later on truck tuesdays would offer special sales and may serve wine and cheese holder said she believes having the event on a tuesday rather than on a wednesday weekend would cater more to locals i just think it's really a good idea because a lot of times people say the stores aren't open late and locals aren't getting off of work and can't get down to the downtown shops a tuesday night is a really good idea because people will know that the stores are open that particular night poehler stated but shops and restaurants are not the only entity he's wanting to participate in the local point david 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 informational thing maybe it's a booth we'll let that part of organic emerge let me figure out what works best to connect with local let them figure out what works best of connect with locals confirm a dozen downtown truckee stories have committed to the participating in the event we want this to be organized into same time we're talking about a 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 your favorite part of the show the police blotter the pictures in the blotter are not from the actual events but used for visual aids only in grass valley police department on wednesday at twelve notified animal control at five fifty one p m caller from grocery store on one hundred block and neil street reported loiterers refused to leave although they were asked seven forty seven pm a call from the one hundred  shoplifter was in custody police side of the man on suspicion of shoplifting at eleven fifty one p m police stopped a man on a bicycle at a restaurant on east main street and arrested him on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance possession of a drug paraphernalia and violation of probation on thursday one fourteen p m caller from space elaine reported a man was sleeping next to a dumpster p contacted a twenty nine year old man and arrested him on suspicion of public drunkenness at seven twenty nine a m call from the seven hundred block of doors drive reported theft of items from vehicles at seven fifty nine determined paul was quiet for now at age sixteen calling from a department store to seven on a block of freeman lane imported the loss prevention staff interviewed some employees on monday regarding theft from the store and a caller wanted to  at one thirty four pm caller from thirteen thousand block of last twenty zero reported prescription medication hours were stolen deputies took a report for possession of a counterfeit prescription form and report of a criminal from eleven thousand block of sierra circle to report a man hit another man in the face deputies arrived neither man was willing to press charges deputies provided a ride to one of them and two pleasant street and wall street and on thursday at five thirty seven am a woman called from the fourteen thousand block of rough and ready how to report a man hit her with a baseball bat and attempted to lock her in a trailer deputies took a report for battery and vandalism and that is city police department on thursday twelve fifty four am on force and it was looking for a runaway sixteen year old girl last seen on wednesday in downtown the firing of the u s attorneys the washington post reports the 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 refusal to release documents and allowing testimony federal law requires contempt citations to go through the u s attorney for the district of columbia but the white house says congress has no authority to force the u 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 could make any congressional contempt citations department top military and administrative officials have announced a new date for when they want congress to assess the war in iraq nov on thursday the commander of the daily operations of iraq lieutenant general raymond odierno said the pentagon report set for september would be too soon to assess the actual conditions on the ground president bush and the republican leaders repeatedly cited the september date in their plea that congress rejected legislation setting a timetable for a partial withdrawal measure collapsed this week after democrats failed to overcome a republican filibuster meanwhile u s ambassador to iraq ryan crocker urged lawmakers to downplay judging of war by the benchmarks they have set speaking from baghdad crocker said that in many cases the benchmarks do not serve as reliable measures for every thing that is important walker also gave his assessment of the situation on the 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 that word on withdrawing u s troops from a iraq in a letter delivered to president bush on thursday seventy congress members right we agree with a clear and growing majority of the american people we are opposed to continued open ended u s military operations in iraq and we believe it is unwise and unacceptable for you to continue to unilaterally impose the staggering cost in the soaring debt on american currency and for the generations to come texas congressman member ron paul running for president was the lone republican to sign on a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by valerie plame wilson and joseph wilson against vice president dick cheney and top administration officials on thursday u s district judge john cheney senior white house adviser karl rove and then said deputy secretary of state richard armitage can't be held responsible the suit accuses the white house of deliberately outing a plane in retaliation for her husband's public criticism for the motives for invading iraq in a statement joseph wilson stated we brought this suit because we strongly believe that politicizing intelligence approximately serves only to undermine the security of our nation today's decision is just the  in what we have always known would be a long legal battle that's still a month ago after stepping down as british prime minister tony blair has began his new job as top envoy to the middle east quartet 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 stated it is imperative that we succeed and i am prepared to try to help in any way i can and i think that in the end that it is most important attitude for me to carry on this job and i also 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 had matching for a moment if this process when moving forward again just think how much hope there would be the bush administration has already announced blair will make no effort to end israel's attack on the gaza strip or curb its settlement growth in the west bank nor try to push through any agreement on a final status peace deal but as first announcement it was to reiterate the quartet would have no involvement with a mosque the winner of last year's palestinian elections blair's first day came as ne released documents showed media magnate rupert murdoch had previously unknown extensive access to blair during his time in office going to the british cabinet office blair and murdoch had six telephone discussions over twenty months period a of blair's time as prime minister three of those conversations were held in the week leading up to the u s and british invasion in iraq and march of two thousand and three including one call on the day before the attack blair phoned murdoch in each of the conversations murdoch's media holdings including several newspapers and fox news network has strongly backed the iraq war in his diaries blair communications director alastair campbell said blair was afraid the media would find out about murdoch relented the day after blair stepped down last month murdoch is currently involved in a controversial bid to buy wall street journal the board of parent company dow jones has backed a deal which now  unique journalistic values will long term strongly so for after the proposed sale in another story in dar food a team of international geologists of they've discovered the imprint of a vast underground lake that could help put an end to the mass killing there researchers say the so called mega lake is three times the size of lebanon because a boston university center for remote sensing said potential water source could be the key to peace stated what most people don't really know is that the fight the war the instability and our food is based on the lack of water simply put nothing else so now if you find water for the pharmacy if you find water in addition to that you to the nomads if you find water in addition to these two for agriculture agricultural production to feed them to give them green then you resolve the problem completely up to four hundred thousand people have been killed in a conflict between the sudanese backed militias and the rebel groups and the report last month the u n development program said widespread environmental problems are the root of the violence homeland security secretary michael