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Dan Walters' Nov. 9 column, "It's high time for hard look at tax dodges," questions the effectiveness of "enterprise zones," yet evidence to the contrary points to the continued success of the program. Business owners large and small face the challenges of the cost of doing business, meeting payroll and ensuring a return on investment in a state with the highest state sales tax, the second highest state income tax and the second highest workers compensation rates in the nation. Simply put, the enterprise zone program is an investment in our state's future.

Here are components of the water package approved early this morning:

FINANCING
Borrows $11.14 billion to pay for dams, underground water banking, water recycling, Delta restoration and regional projects. Voters must approve the bond at the November 2010 election. It would cost the state about $800 million a year in debt service at its peak.

DELTA OVERSIGHT
Creates a seven-member council charged with adopting a long-range management plan for the environmentally troubled estuary by 2012. The plan would include strategies to boost the reliability of water exports while protecting the ecosystem.

CANAL
Does not authorize a long-envisioned canal to move water around the Delta southward. But the Delta council would incorporate the canal into its plans -- if it meets environmental standards.

CONSERVATION
Calls for a statewide per-capita urban water use reduction of 20 percent by 2020, but not every water district would have to meet that threshold. Agencies that don't meet targets would be ineligible for state grants and loans. Farm water suppliers would not face targets but would have to submit efficiency plans.

GROUNDWATER MONITORING
Requires agencies to report water levels in underground basins. Agencies that don't comply could lose grants.

WATER RIGHTS
Gives state water regulators more powers to police illegal water diversions, although specific penalties would have to be added later by the Legislature.

A nonprofit tolerance center in midtown Sacramento, championed by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, could get a vital economic boost from an unlikely source: a mammoth $10 billion water bond proposal.

Lawmakers approved a momentous overhaul of California's ailing water system early this morning, but approval came only after Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg agreed to strip a $10 million earmark for a Sacramento project he has championed.

Two influential water districts and several environmental groups said Monday they support key elements of water legislation under negotiation in the Capitol. But the compromise is not good enough for Republican leaders, who said they still have "grave concerns" that the proposals would "create new layers of bureaucracy."

Forget Romeo and Juliet. Anthony and Cleopatra. Brad and Angelina.

State fire officials Monday announced a $10,000 reward for help putting the arsonist who set August's 49 fire behind bars.

Every natural disaster sears us with the same images: Forlorn families sifting through ashes for treasured heirlooms and possessions. Business owners peeling open the charred remnants of payroll records and money bags.

Disaster happens. To minimize your losses and speed up recovery, here are some tips:

Nearly a third of San Luis Obispo County students — 10,078 — were considered truant last year, according to state data. That means they were either absent or late to school without a valid excuse at least three times in the 2008-09 school year — exceeding the state average. Suspensions and expulsions also have grown during the last five years, up 73 percent and 49 percent, respectively. See how student misconduct at your child's school compares to other schools in its district.

Here are additional bills authored by Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, and Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo:

Maldonado’s bills:

Gerald Parsky, chairman of the bipartisan tax reform commission that delivered its recommendations to the Legislature this week, said his panel was asked to be bold, and it delivered.

Business and labor groups oppose it, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has embraced a recommendation to flatten the state income tax, eliminate part of the sales tax and install a new form of consumption tax on most firms.

You’ve probably noticed that SanLuisObispo.com looks a little different today. As part of our ongoing effort to make our Web site easier to use, we’ve moved some things around. Don’t worry, we haven’t gotten rid of anything — we’ve just consolidated the content a bit. That way you don’t have to scroll around so much to find what you’re looking for. Here’s what we’ve changed:

California legislators ended their 2009 regular session early Saturday morning and, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have so many labored so late for so little.

Dan and Sherry Jones now have two cell phones: one for family calls and another to deal with insurance assessors, contractors, banks and other agencies as they try to piece together their lives after the 49 fire destroyed their home a week ago.

Placer County officials are sponsoring a meeting Wednesday regarding fire debris removal for residents and business owners who suffered losses from the 49 fire.

Fire officials on Thursday said their investigation into the cause of the devastating 49 fire this week is continuing, with the cause not yet determined.

When a wildfire whips through a neighborhood, it rarely leaves much behind. Chimneys and charred chunks of metal are often the only remnants of a family's life possessions.

A wind-whipped fire Sunday destroyed more than 20 homes and businesses and forced hundreds to head to shelters, as it scorched and hopscotched through wooded neighborhoods at the north edge of Auburn.