Sacramento Bee Articles

State's at an impasse - let's call in a mediator

By Ellen Taylor
Special to The Bee

Published: Sunday, Jul. 12, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 2E

With state budget negotiations in a seemingly interminable impasse, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested recently that legislators may have lost the art of compromise. Perhaps that is not the case. Clearly, rather than a lost art, compromise needs to be practiced more artfully. Read more (link to external Web site)

Q&A: Mediators brainstorm on how to fix the state budget process

Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, September 22, 2008

As California's longest budget stalemate in state history ground to a close, six professional mediators met with The Bee's Capitol Bureau last week to offer their thoughts on building a more functional state budget process. Read more

NPR Article

Mediators Help Families With Tough Choices Of Aging

by Joseph Shapiro
Morning Edition, April 13, 2009

They are disputes that can split apart families: Mom's left a pot on the stove again, so her daughters want her to give up her house. Dad's got more scrapes on his car, so his kids want to take away the car keys. Now there's a new option for families: Call in an elder mediator, like Rikk Larsen. Read more (link to external Web site)