The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the State Park may be closed not just through Memorial Day, as we have been told, but may not reopen, due to lack of money to complete the rebuilding of one of the bridges. I have heard NOTHING to support this, other than the budget problems in general, which is really what this article is about. It appears to be using the state park as a way to generate hysteria over the budget problems. The article is here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123431135774170619.html
but just in case it “disappears” or goes into archive, requiring subscription or other, here is the relevant text of the article (it deals with the state budget crisis in general, so I don’t reproduce the entire article):
California’s Pain Is Only Beginning
By JIM CARLTON and BOBBY WHITE
BIG SUR, Calif. — As Sacramento squabbles over the state’s $42 billion deficit, Californians are getting a bitter taste of what’s to come after the steep budget cuts that are inevitable when legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally hammer out a deal.
Some world-famous parks like Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park may not open this year. After-school programs in low-income areas are being scuttled, putting high-risk teens on the street just as police forces are being cut. Schools are closing classrooms, and some highway projects have ground to a halt. The state may not be able to monitor some sex offenders as required under law.
A budget deal may restore some of the missing funds. But everyone knows that not all monies will flow again after a deal, and Californians increasingly fear they are seeing a hint of their future.
Jim Carlton/The Wall Street Journal
A state parks superintendent inspects the site of an unfinished bridge (below) at California’s Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. The world-renowned park on the Central California coast may not open this summer because funds to complete the new bridge to a large campground have been frozen.
Jim Carlton/The Wall Street Journal
“Before it gets better, it’s going to get a lot worse,” said Joseph Valentine, director of Contra Costa County’s Department of Employment and Human Services. The department, which administers social services such as food stamps, has cut 12%, or $25 million, of its budget. It has managers answering reception-desk phones, and Mr. Valentine expects another round of cuts.
The empty coffers have hit some California icons. Pfeiffer Big Sur may not reopen this summer because work on a new bridge to the campground was halted, part of a $6 million renovation project that state officials have ordered frozen along with hundreds of millions of dollars in other state infrastructure projects.”