All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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For weeks we’ve been reporting for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric about the credit crunch and the negative affect it has had on small business owners. Specifically, big banks have been reluctant to lend money right now which in turn prevents businesses from growing. Some have had to lay off employees, others have shut down altogether. But we found that for business owners with good credit, a solid business plan, and a lot of determination, there is still money to be had.

The Contos family in Long Beach, Calif., has been running restaurants for 45 years. They have excellent credit, a profitable business and plans to expand to a third location. But when they approached their long time banker, they were not given the amount they needed. Undeterred, they called the Small Business Administration and asked if there were other places they should look for financing. They were referred to Excel National Bank in Beverly Hills. While other banks were making risky subprime home loans, Excel stayed conservative and now has money to lend. Excel loaned Iristi Contos $1.7 million. They will break ground on the new location when the overall economy perks up.

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Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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There couldn’t be a more critical time to be a small business owner. So many small businesses rely on loans – for everything from payroll to buying needed equipment – that when credit dried up these past few weeks they started facing critical decisions on how to keep their businesses going. According to the National Small Business Association, which has recently polled its members about the economic crisis, nationwide 28,000 fewer small business loans have been approved this year. Sixty-seven percent of small business owners surveyed recently said they’ve been impacted by the credit crunch.

We interviewed two Southern California business owners who told us in addition to this recent crisis, they’ve been troubled for years over increasing healthcare premiums and what they feel are excessive taxes and regulations. What we also learned from our interviews is that while politicians talk a lot about the small businessman and woman, the small business owner doesn’t feel like anyone in Washington is listening to their needs.

Mike O’Toole owns the Gondola Getaway in Long Beach, Calif. The idea to take people on gondola rides through the canals of his hometown came to him in business school. And he’s been making it work for 27 years. But O’Toole says: “if we’re the engine that drives the country (as so many politicians like to say) we need a new mechanic.” Why? He told us he’s drowning in regulations and taxes. There is no way he could afford to provide healthcare for all his employees, many of whom are part-time; because it would put him out of business.

Mark Murai is a third-generation strawberry grower who also owns processing plants. His top concern is paying for healthcare for his 30 employees whom he considers like family. But ...

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Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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It was the day of the Chino Hill’s earthquake when I met surfing legend Laird Hamilton. We were waiting to follow him off the Malibu coast for what was supposed to be a stand-up paddle surfing lesson for me – and an explanation of why he has so whole-heartedly taken on this new water sport.

It was an inauspicious way to start the day, with the earth shaking the way it did. But we tried not to let it rattle us. It didn’t seem to bother Laird nor his adorable four-year-old daughter, Reece, who tagged along for our story.

We headed to the water and Laird, now 44-years-old, talked and talked about stand-up paddling. But realize this is the man when it comes to traditional surfing. He has conquered some of the biggest waves on the planet, up to 80 feet high. In 2000, he took what’s considered one of the most daring surf rides ever, on a monster wave in Tahiti’s Teahupo’s break, a super-dangerous place to surf due to its razor-sharp reefs. Laird has also appeared in two surfing movies and his latest, "Water Man," is due out this month.

So it was only natural to wonder why he’s hung up his surfboard and now professes his love of stand-up paddle surfing. Laird put it this way: "if you know anything about me, you know I’m always looking for a new way to cut an apple ...

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Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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“What part of 'out of bounds' don’t they understand?”

It was a rhetorical question from Mt. Baldy, Calif., volunteer Fire Chief Bill Stead. He watches year after year as people from the Los Angeles area make the day trip up to Mt. Baldy to ski, snowboard, or sled. He says they’re so determined to have a good time; they often ignore the rules – going so far as to tear down avalanche-warning signs and use them as saucer sleds!

I saw it with my own eyes. The chief took us to a popular hill used for sledding. There, I saw adults and children walking right past a big posted notice: “Warning: Potential Avalanche Area—Do Not Cross!” They climbed right up that hill and sledded down, oblivious to the danger. I talked to some of the sledders who either said they didn’t notice the sign or didn’t think an avalanche could happen to them.

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Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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It all started with the idea of Stan Curtis at USA Harvest in Louisville, Kentucky. He launched the first "Blessings in a Backpack" program at a school in Louisville. The idea is to send children home with an extra backpack filled with food to sustain them over the weekend so they would come to school on Monday morning well fed and ready to focus and learn. It's now grown to seven cities and 20 more schools are ready to launch.

One of the schools already participating is in Los Angeles. We went to visit Normandie Avenue Elementary to see how the program is working here. Normandie sits in the heart of South Central L.A. It's a rough area where students know about need. Many children live in single parent homes; some are living in foster care. Most of the students qualify for the government's free lunch program at school and often that's the most nutritious meal they eat.

The school psychologist told me that Monday mornings used to have the highest tardiness rate. Kids were lethargic, they'd come to the nurses office just to ask for the crackers they knew she kept there. Teachers told me kids were falling asleep in class or just didn't focus.

That's why the school leapt at the chance to participate in the "Blessings in a Backpack" program. Now, Stan Curtis just needed to find a sponsor. That's when a special teacher got involved. Mr. Spencer is what the kids call him. His student's line up by rows named after the California colleges he hopes they will one day attend. Spencer Schumacher has high hopes for his fifth graders and he also has a friend who works for Hilary Duff. Well, after a few phone calls, the deal was done. The former star of "Lizzie Maguire" was set to sponsor the entire school! She even stopped by the school to stuff some backpacks and give away some guitars. The kids were thrilled.

Their parents are even more thrilled with Hilary Duff's legacy...

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Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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It was a rainy day when we drove up the almost hidden driveway to the Berry Botanical Garden in suburban Portland, Oregon. Cameraman Max Stacey and I had missed the tiny sign and we were just going by addresses when we found it! But what a delightful find. Six acres of gardens and a beautiful old white house just up from the river road. But the real hidden gem was the project directors Ed Guerrant and Andrea Raven are working on inside; seed banking.

It’s not a new idea but saving the world's seeds has taken on a measure of urgency and Ed told me why, because he says "not since the age of dinosaurs have things been going extinct at the rate they are now."

Right now up to one-fifth of the earth's plants are in trouble--fluctuating temperatures from global warming mean some plants that need cold conditions are too warm, those that need rain, aren't getting it.

If you wonder why it's so important to save plants it's because plants are not only a source of food but are also a source of medicine. One in six of all wild plants are used for medicine, one in ten for food. Who knows what disease might yet be cured by some wild plant that is near extinction? And what about the delicate balance of the eco-system? Ed and Andrea explained to me that losing just one plant could throw things off. What bird or bug might eat that plant? Without that plant, the bird or bug dies. That, in turn, can affect many other animals.

So, the job of saving endangered plant species in the Northwest U.S. is the job of Ed and Andrea. They go out into the field and delicately (so they don't damage the plant) take seeds from endangered plants in the northwest. Like the pale larkspur, western lily and nelsons checker mallow. It’s an insurance policy against extinction. They take the seeds back for drying and ultimately freezing inside their seed bank.

The Berry Botanical Garden takes its seed banking seriously. The seed bank is a freezer that is kept in a fire-proof room behind a bank vault door. They are working on making the room completely earthquake safe, as well.

And if you think they're seed serious in Oregon you should see the seed bank just outside London! It’s called the Millennium Seed Project. A towering fortress of modern steel built to house all the world's seeds. It’s huge and quite modern looking and the idea is to hold the key to the entire world's plant life right there. They are well on their way. Officials at the Millennium Seed Project predict by 2010 they should have about ten percent of the world’s seeds!

A day at the beach is always a welcome outing. This day turned out to be one I won’t soon forget. First, I met a tall, tan, long-haired man named Izzy Paskowitz. In his day, Izzy was a world-class surfer. But we weren’t there to talk about Izzy’s accolades, although that would be an entertaining day.

Today we came to watch Izzy and his surf instructors teach dozens of very unique kids to catch waves off the California coast. These days Izzy runs a surf camp in Pacific Beach but several times a year that camp gets put on hold and everyone puts their energy into a program called “Surfers Healing.” You can see in Izzy’s eyes this is a special day for him and you hear it in the shouts of joy and giggles from the kids emerging from their cars that this is a day they have been looking forward to all year. What’s incredible about today is that all the surfers are autistic children. With symptoms that range from mild to severe, the kids come from all over the country for this one day of wonder...

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Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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Now that the overheated US housing market is finally cooling off, it’s no surprise that everyone is looking for a deal. But buyers aren’t the only ones. Sellers are in the market to save money too and a number of homeowners are trying to do it by not hiring realtors.

Last year, about 12% of all American home sales were so called “FSBOs” or “for sale by owners." That figure is actually down somewhat from the nationwide peak, which occurred in 1987, when some 20% of all homes in the U.S. were sold by their owners.

When is it a good idea to try selling your home without a realtor? According to the National Association of Realtors, never! They insist that you need the expertise and savvy that a real estate professional brings into what likely will be the most costly transaction of your life. On the other hand, when you’re talking about saving potentially tens of thousands of dollars that would go to a realtor, many people opt to go it alone.

There is some academic evidence to support the FSBO route. Economists looking at the Madison, Wisconsin housing market found homes sold by owner on a local website went for about the same amount as those sold by realtors. But the same study also found that realtors did sell homes faster. And according to a National Association of Realtors survey of home sellers in 2005 using a real estate broker brought a 16% increase in the sales price...

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Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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The Los Angeles Superior Courtroom was so full, not all of the victims were allowed inside. They gathered to witness the announcement of the largest settlement in Catholic Church history, $660 million to be paid by the Los Angeles archdiocese to 508 victims of sexual abuse by clergy. There where so many lawyers, some had to sit in the jury box.

Despite a sometimes dry legal proceeding, emotions were raw in the courtroom. At one point, Ray Boucher, the main plaintiffs' lawyer was given the opportunity to speak and as he did some broke down and sobbed out loud. When Michael Hennigan, the archdiocese's attorney stood and faced the victims to say how much the church regretted the long wait to resolve the case, one angry man shouted “not accepted.”

Many of the victims who were inside the courtroom had been headed to trial today in the case against Father Clinton Hagenback, who is now dead.

Steve Sanchez is one of those victims. Like many, he questions the timing of this settlement. After all, the first person on Steve Sanchez’s witness list was Cardinal Roger Mahony (seen at the left). Mahoney is the head of the L.A. Archdiocese and has long been accused of a massive cover-up in the sex abuse scandal here.

After the hearing Steve told me, “Mahony got off cheap today.” “You know, $660 million and he was supposed to take the stand in our case, he bought himself off the witness stand.”

Another man, with whom I spoke, Lee Bashforth, carried a picture of himself at seven years old with now convicted sex offender Michael Wempe. Just talking about Wempe brought tears to his eyes. Bashforth was particularly offended by Cardinal Mahony, who issued a public apology yesterday.

“He’s sorry he got caught,” is what Lee said. Today in court, Cardinal Mahony didn’t say a word. But it was mentioned in court that he took two rushed trips to the Vatican to get this deal hammered out and for that, at least, plaintiffs' attorney Ray Boucher seemed willing to forgive him.

Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

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It has been 18 days since the mother humpback and her calf were discovered heading up the Sacramento River the wrong way. Under the terms of the Endangered Species Act, state officials are given the power and the finances to pay for rescue efforts when an animal on the list is in trouble. The mother and calf were. They were stuck in the Port of Sacramento 90 miles upstream in fresh water! They had wounds and the mother, they believed, might still be nursing her calf. Without salt water the mother couldn't feed. It could turn into a serious situation. They believed these two had wandered off their migration course from Mexico. Usually Humpbacks give birth in the warm waters between Hawaii and Mexico during the winter and then head up to Alaska for feeding time over the summer with their young in tow.

So rescue workers from California Fish and Game decided to try and lure the whales back down stream and into the open ocean. First they started with those weird underwater whale noises. These were whale feeding noises. When that didn’t work they realized maybe they were using the wrong kind of whale feeding sounds.


Attempt number two to get them down the river was herding. They used a flotilla of boats to try and ease them down stream. This sort of worked but then the whales dove back under the flotilla.