Daily Archives: June 13, 2008

Sweet thoughts

June 13, 20082:08 p.m.

Went to the new Sugar Sisters Bakery & Cafe today near Central and Oliver.

I’ve enjoyed watching the building transform and hope it bodes well for that area.

I’m happy to report the bakery is adorable and tasty (I recommend the mac and cheese and citrus dressing for salad). It’s a tad loud, and there are some service issues, but the place was packed.

I remarked to my dining companion that, even though the sisters are only a few weeks in, I think they need to start making expansion plans. My suggestion? Turn that space into a bakery area exclusively for serving treats. Then, perhaps across the street, build a new restaurant area to accommodate more people — and perhaps design it in such a way as to not be so loud.

This suggestion caused my fellow diner’s eyes to pop out a bit in sort of a don’t-even-think-that-missy sort of way. Why? She’s Jane Deterding of Citizens Bank of Kansas, the Sugar Sisters’ banker.

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Earthjustice sues federal agency over Holcomb plant

June 13, 20081:23 p.m.

You have to hand it to the Sierra Club. It — and its well-funded legal arm, Earthjustice — certainly know how to make political hay.

On Tuesday, they will be at it again in Washington when taxpayer dollars will go to court to defend the Rural Utility Service, which has been sued by Earthjustice for, gasp, fulfilling its legal responsibility.

In the past, you see, the Rural Utility Service, which was created by the government to provide funding for rural electric cooperatives to build power plants, has loaned money to Sunflower Rural Electric Cooperative to build power plants.

According to Earthjustice’s own account, ” UNDER THE LAW GOVERNING THE PROGRAM and RUS’s agreements with Sunflower, RUS must also approve any expansion of Sunflower’s plants and any new loans that Sunflower seeks from non-government sources.”

So Earthjustice sued RUS for failing to consider the environmental consequences of that action, namely CO2 emissions that might come from future expansions.

Never mind that the last Sunflower coal-fired construction was three decades ago, long before the steady drumbeat on the evils of carbon dioxide had grabbed national attention. Or that Sunflower hasn’t sought RUS funding for its proposed Holcomb expansion.

According to the suit, RUS should not have honored its legal responsibility or prior agreement and should have shot down the agreements between Sunflower and its third-party lenders. So, off we go to court.

No matter who wins this one, taxpayers lose. We get to pay for the argument.

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Coffee Break: On vacations, speculators and the Dreamliner

June 13, 200810:22 a.m.

TGIF. Here are your links for Friday.

  • As you might have seen in today’s Eagle, Thursday was Dreamliner show-and-tell day at Spirit AeroSystems. The Seattle Times’ Dominic Gates was one of the national aviation reporters visiting.
  • Speculators are being blamed for high gas prices, soaring grocery bills and volatile commodity markets, and lawmakers are lashing out at market regulators for not cracking down, the New York Times reports.
  • More Americans are finding it harder to justify vacations, but this New York Times story says vacations are necessary for good health.
  • USA Today says foreign companies are taking advantage of the weak dollar and looking for companies to buy in the U.S.
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