Arizona Contracts

A long-sought agreement between California and Arizona to dispose of low-level radioactive waste has unexpectedly become mired in each state's political turmoil and a falling out between key lawmakers in the two states. Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), who interceded in the matter this week, announced Thursday that he hopes to send a negotiating team to Arizona in the next two weeks in an effort to resolve the impasse.

OptimumCare Corp. said it has signed a three-year agreement to manage a partial-hospitalization program, Friendship Community Mental Health Center, which serves the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. The program is designed for patients who do not need to be in a hospital but require more than outpatient visits with a mental health professional.

Gov. George Deukmejian on Thursday signed legislation ratifying a pact with Arizona that allows both states to dump low-level radioactive wastes in the desert of eastern California for a minimum of 30 years. The agreement, once ratified by Arizona, would be the first of its kind in the nation since a 1980 federal law required states to find a solution to the mounting radioactive waste problem.

A long-sought agreement between California and Arizona to dispose of low-level radioactive waste has unexpectedly become mired in each state's political turmoil and a falling out between key lawmakers in the two states. Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), who interceded in the matter this week, announced Thursday that he hopes to send a negotiating team to Arizona in the next two weeks in an effort to resolve the impasse.

OptimumCare Corp. said it has signed a three-year agreement to manage a partial-hospitalization program, Friendship Community Mental Health Center, which serves the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. The program is designed for patients who do not need to be in a hospital but require more than outpatient visits with a mental health professional.

Most people toss their empty plastic milk containers in the recycling bin and that's it. They know their refuse is recycled, but into what, who knows? But companies throughout Ventura County, such as Moorpark's Marplast, are turning an afterthought into a vital part of their business. Old plastic and cardboard go in as junk and come out as new products. Since 1994, Marplast, which has 40 employees, has been using recycled materials to make plastic containers, playthings and industrial items.

Lawyers for the state Legislature said Thursday that government contracts set to ship hundreds of inmates to four private prisons outside California beginning next month were unconstitutional. The opinion by the Legislative Counsel, a nonpartisan legal office that provides policy advice to lawmakers, casts a legal shadow over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to relieve the prison crowding crisis by housing some inmates out of state in lockups run by private firms.

Gov. George Deukmejian on Thursday signed legislation ratifying a pact with Arizona that allows both states to dump low-level radioactive wastes in the desert of eastern California for a minimum of 30 years. The agreement, once ratified by Arizona, would be the first of its kind in the nation since a 1980 federal law required states to find a solution to the mounting radioactive waste problem.