Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:44:45 +0000

By Kevin Yamamura | The Sacramento Bee

In his latest effort to patch California's cash-strapped budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has resurrected an idea to convert overhead freeway displays into electronic advertising billboards.

Under the plan, a billboard company would replace existing digital displays that show abduction-related Amber Alerts and traffic updates with sophisticated color screens that also show advertising. The state currently operates 708 electronic boards on highways.

The proposal faces significant hurdles, particularly obtaining a U.S. Department of Transportation waiver of federal highway regulations. The governor sees the plan as a way to generate revenue and improve the technology of the warning signs, but critics fear the new signs would distract drivers and lead to more accidents.

The governor's Department of Finance quietly submitted a draft bill to the Legislature this week to help raise money for the 2010-11 budget as leaders seek to close a $19.9 billion deficit. Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer compared the proposed signs to one installed at California State University, Sacramento, along Highway 50, although they would appear directly above drivers rather than alongside roadways.

The draft proposal, which calls the project "experimental," would allow the state to contract out its highway signs for up to 20 years. The Department of Finance has not estimated how much money the plan would generate, but Palmer said it would help reduce the deficit in 2010-11.

"We think this has the potential to generate significant revenue," he said.

A legislative source close to budget talks said the administration estimated late last year that California could raise as much as $2 billion for 500 message boards over 20 years. The state could obtain a sizable portion of that money as a lump sum to use in the 2010-11 budget.

To read the complete article, visit www.sacbee.com.

Laurel-Rain Snow is the pen name for Lorraine Frost Sandone, who was born in California’s Central Valley; she attended community college in Modesto, CA, after which she transferred to San Francisco State University in the sixties. She transferred again and graduated from California State University in Sacramento, with a BA in psychology. Ms. Snow moved to Fresno, CA, in the early seventies, where she then worked in the social work profession for over thirty years, specializing primarily in child welfare cases. She earned her MA in counseling from California State University of Fresno in the seventies. Ms. Snow, now retired from social work, lives in Fresno, CA, and is the mother of four grown children and proud grandmother of seven.

After retiring from the social work profession, Ms.Snow turned to an old dream—writing—and has published five novels, available on Amazon.com.

The author weaves three decades of experience into her novels, which sets them apart and lends authenticity to the characterizations.

MILES TO GO

by Laurel-Rain Snow

“Because I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep…”

This excerpt from a Robert Frost poem, a favorite of mine from long ago, is the central theme of the novel “Miles to Go.”

The story spans more than thirty years and highlights a friendship connection between two women who meet in college, protest the radical causes of the sixties and seventies, and discover that the journey to adulthood is riddled with many obstacles—ruts in the road, if you will—that prevent the realization of some of their early goals.

They learn, in the process of growing up, that despite the promises of their youth—even their most fervent vows—that the journey can be tangled indeed.  But the most vital realization is that friendship can sustain you, even when you stumble or fall.

I first began this novel when I endured a painful and unexpected loss in the early eighties.  Writing in longhand, on long yellow legal pads, I wrote endlessly, without any particular goal or plot.  I was simply seeking catharsis.

Then I set it aside and got on with other things.

I rediscovered it in a drawer near the beginning of the Millennium, when I was at a point of reexamining many issues, including what constituted my future.  I was approaching retirement from a social worker career and wanted to explore new options—an old love, in fact.  Writing this novel became an obsession, and having set up my computer in an upstairs bedroom, I began.

Lindsay Malone and Gia Greenbaum became the two college friends, who maintained their friendship connection from the sixties and beyond—for more than thirty years.  I explored with them their relationships, their parenting issues, and their career choices…and journeyed with them along the paths that often veered completely away from their college aspirations.

Lindsay battles the angst of personal loss—the mysterious death of her brother, while in his prime—and the demise of her youthful marriage.  She struggles with chemical dependency, even as her clients in her social work practice do the same.  The irony does not escape her.  Many relationships follow, but not until she has become independent and on her own for a few years does she finally find the companionship of an interdependent partner.

Gia’s quest is more political, and after spending time as a lobbyist for radical causes, she attends law school…then she takes up the pursuit of environmental issues, along with others near and dear to her heart.  She, too, finds that relationships elude her…after her divorce, she dabbles with single life until finally she finds the perfect mate for her.

It is no coincidence that many exploits of the primary characters are closely drawn to my own experiences.  However, I must add that the characters and their adventures are embellished—completely fictionalized—so that this novel is truly fiction.  Though not a memoir, it does resemble one at times.

Because I struggled with this one more than the others, I put it aside again and published three other novels before finally bringing this one to life.

Indeed—I did have “miles to go” before it saw the light of day.

LAUREL-RAIN SNOW CREATIONS  (website)

Amazon Authors Page