Fresno is feeling the pain too

Idle development:

Some of the streets are in, but there isn't much else at Tierra Vista, an idle 44-lot subdivision in Dinuba that is a casualty of Estate Financial Inc.'s downfall. The Paso Robles company is in bankruptcy, and its principals have been arrested.

Mother and son Karen Roxanna Guth, 65, and Joshua Morris Yaguda, 40, both of Paso Robles, were charged with 26 felony violations of the California Corporations code, including selling securities to investors using false statements and failing to apply investor money to specifically designated property. The charges capped a six-month investigation.

The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office also filed an enhancement alleging excessive taking of money totaling at least $3.2 million. That could add four years to any prison sentence, said Daniel Hilford, assistant district attorney.

The company issued more than 544 loans totaling $318 million and reportedly had about 2,700 investors, many of them living along the Central Coast and in Southern California. About 100 loans are in foreclosure, and the rest are in default, according to bankruptcy trustees.

The implosion of Estate Financial is being felt from Madera to Bakersfield. The company issued more than $15 million in loans using San Joaquin Valley real estate as collateral. Much of the money was used to acquire land and lots and prepare them for development.

Plant Closure:

About 115 workers at a Fresno container plant are expected to lose their jobs over the next 12 months in a "phased-down closure," officials said Thursday.

Missouri-based Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. is shutting down its cardboard manufacturing plant at 2525 S. Sunland Ave., in the Calwa neighborhood, as part of a consolidation of its regional operations, said Tim Rowden, a company spokesman.

The Calwa plant produces corrugated cardboard sheets used to make boxes. Earlier this year, Smurfit-Stone purchased a 90% interest in Calpine Corrugated, which operates another plant, one that makes boxes, less than five miles away in Malaga.

Yard sales:

It's a good half hour before sunrise as Annie Rini sifts through piles of clothing and stacks of dishes spread on tables outside a northwest Fresno home.

It's the first of more than a dozen garage sales Rini will hit before 11 a.m. on a crisp fall Saturday. She doesn't do it just for fun.

"This is so out of necessity," said Rini, who paid $2 for a ceramic platter and an orange Tupperware bowl with lid.

Like Rini, more and more people are shopping at garage sales to save money in a bad economy. And more people are putting their belongings up for sale for gas money or to pay bills

And their college football team should start playing high school teams:

Fresno State knew Nevada was bringing its pistol. Too bad the Bulldogs don't own a bulletproof vest.

Nevada packed its pistol offense and the nation's second-ranked running game into Bulldog Stadium on Friday night and proceeded to blast holes in Fresno State's defense as the Bulldogs lost 41-28 in front of 33,207 fans and a nationwide television audience on ESPN2.

The Wolf Pack racked up 600 yards of total offense, including 472 on the ground.