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Guv candidates duck specifics on new budget plan -- While the Republican candidates for governor have been squabbling over details of their biographies, they've responded with generalities to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's May revision to the 2010-11 budget. Jack Chang SacBee Capitol Alert -- 5/14/10 The new CA gold rush: state leads the nation with $37 million in political ads, "95 percent" by Whitman and Poizner -- The 2010 Gold Rush is officially on, with California leading the nation in political ad spending -- thanks to two wealthy GOP gubernatorial candidates, Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, who have spent the lion's share of nearly $37 million dropped this year on campaign TV spots, a leading advertising tracking firm says. Carla Marinucci Chronicle Politics Weblog -- 5/14/10 Budget would end welfare to work, cut other programs -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger outlined a stark vision Friday of a California that would no longer lend a helping hand to some of its poorest and neediest citizens, proposing a budget that would eliminate the state's welfare-to-work program and most child care for the poor. Shane Goldmacher in the Los Angeles Times Kevin Yamamura and Susan Ferriss in the Sacramento Bee Steven Harmon in the Contra Costa Times BRIAN JOSEPH in the Orange County Register Greg Lucas California's capitol weblog -- 5/14/10 Schwarzenegger lays out bleak California budget -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday called for eliminating California's welfare-to-work program, one of the deep cuts he proposed to close a $19 billion budget deficit in the coming fiscal year. Slashing the welfare program would affect 1.4 million people, two-thirds of them children. JUDY LIN AP -- 5/14/10 Governor's spending plan cuts welfare, boosts colleges -- California would eliminate its welfare program, most state-subsidized child care and make deep cuts to prison spending, health care and human services programs under the governor's revised budget proposal unveiled today. Marisa Lagos in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/10 With 11-point lead, Campbell is 'feeling wonderful' -- Former Republican Rep. Tom Campbell is feeling good about the latest SurveyUSA poll, which shows him opening up an 11-point lead over former businesswoman Carly Fiorina in California's GOP Senate race. Rob Hotakainen SacBee Capitol Alert -- 5/14/10 Nitrate contamination spreading in California communities -- The water supply of more than two million Californians has been exposed to harmful levels of nitrates over the past 15 years – a time marked by lax regulatory efforts to contain the colorless and odorless contaminant, a California Watch investigation has found. Julia Scott California Watch -- 5/14/10 ‘Containment model’ starts for sex offenders -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered his administration on Thursday to immediately follow through on several recommendations advanced by a state advisory board that explored systemwide failures in handling sex offenders such as John Albert Gardner III, who is expected to be sentenced today for raping and murdering two San Diego County teenagers. Michael Gardner in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 5/14/10 California ethics panel fines CalPERS board member -- California's ethics panel fined a board member at the state's embattled public pension fund $4,000 for failing to file her annual economic disclosures on time. CATHY BUSSEWITZ AP -- 5/14/10 California Dems ask DNC to pass on Phoenix for 2012 confab -- California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton thinks it would be a grand mistake for Democrats to head to the Grand Canyon State to pick their party nominee in 2012. Torey Van Oot SacBee Capitol Alert -- 5/14/10 Podcast: Ouch! -- This week's Capital Notes Podcast, a little late in arriving due to the afternoon release of a revised budget, is full of pain… $19 billion in tough decisions about state government programs and the folks who depend on those programs. John Myers Capitol Notes weblog -- 5/14/10
Schwarzenegger plan would put nonviolent felons in county jails -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will revive a plan to house 15,000 nonviolent felons in county jails instead of state prisons, a cost-cutting move that likely would result in some inmates leaving jail early. Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 Lawmakers foresee "really awful cuts" -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today will release a revised budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, and the plan will call for "really awful cuts," especially to social service programs. James Rufus Koren and Sandra Emerson in the San Bernardino Sun -- 5/14/10 Grim bookends: Schwarzenegger goes out battling deficits, much as he arrived -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's final budget fight dawns today, when he releases what's widely expected to be a dire update of the already-dire spending plan he released in January. Denis C. Theriault in the San Jose Mercury -- 5/14/10 Assembly Speaker Pérez to hit Pebble Beach as Gov. Schwarzenegger releases budget -- Pérez will host the state Democratic Party's biggest fundraiser of the year as Schwarzenegger unveils a spending plan expected to cut deeply into services for the poor. Shane Goldmacher in the Los Angeles Times SAMANTHA YOUNG AP -- 5/14/10 Carly Fiorina injects $1.1 million more into her campaign -- With three weeks remaining in the close GOP race to replace Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), candidate Carly Fiorina has put an additional $1.1 million of her personal funds into her campaign. Maeve Reston in the Los Angeles Times Dena Bunis in the Orange County Register -- 5/14/10 Ad Watch: Whitman tries to pin 'liberal' tag on Poizner -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is running a TV ad accusing rival Steve Poizner of taking liberal positions on a variety of issues. Jack Chang in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 Whitman's new ad lumps Poizner and Jerry Brown together -- even takes on Barbara Boxer -- Meg Whitman's shrinking lead in the Republican gubernatorial primary has the former eBay chief scrambling to stop the big gains that opponent Steve Poizner has been making in recent weeks. Jim Boren in the Fresno Bee -- 5/14/10 Facebook experience cuts both ways for AG candidate -- Chris Kelly made a relatively abrupt entry into California politics. The former Facebook executive decided to run for attorney general less than a year ago and since then has pumped nearly $10 million into his largely self-financed campaign. Chase Davis California Watch -- 5/14/10 Steve Poizner's first Spanish-language radio ad hits Meg Whitman on immigration -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner's first Spanish-language radio ad is hitting the airwaves, treating listeners to some state-of-the-art, rhetorical acrobatics. Jack Chang in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 New Poizner ad assails Whitman's voting record -- Fresh off an infusion of $2.5 million more from his personal warchest, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has launched a new television ad attacking Meg Whitman's voting record. Anthony York in the Los Angeles Times -- 5/14/10 Companies challenged Poizner business claims -- He says his ex-firm invented cellphone GPS technology. Suits alleged some ideas were taken. Rich Connell in the Los Angeles Times -- 5/14/10 Longshot Democrat pans Boxer as a lockstep liberal -- These days Mickey Kaus has eight other things he should be doing at any given moment, like mobilizing volunteers and finding large e-mail lists he could use to hit up people for money. Amy Chance in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 For Jerry Brown, change has been a recurring theme -- In more than four decades in politics, the Democratic candidate for governor has displayed what some praise as a lack of ideological rigidity and others criticize as a failure of political principle. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times -- 5/14/10 More than a dozen candidates vie for lieutenant governor -- Though some people — and one candidate — have disparaged the position as largely ceremonial, it has attracted many applicants and spirited competition for the Democratic and Republican nominations. Jean Merl in the Los Angeles Times -- 5/14/10 Mercury pours $10 million into Prop. 17 effort -- One of California's largest insurers has sunk upward of $10 million into ads and efforts supporting Proposition 17, the auto insurance measure on the June 8 ballot, in what consumer advocates are calling a "David and Goliath" battle that they say could affect consumers for years. Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/10 Proposition 16 changes rules on public power -- The ballot measure, funded to the tune of $35 million almost entirely by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., would force local governments to win the approval of two-thirds of their voters before jumping into the electricity business. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/10 Walters: In California, cronyism is alive and doing well -- Wikipedia defines crony capitalism as "a pejorative term describing an allegedly capitalist economy in which success in business depends on close relationships." It cites China, India, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia, Russia "and most other ex-Soviet states." And California? Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 Prop. 14 would shrink political parties’s power -- Voters increasingly prefer not to be affiliated with a political party – and a June ballot measure would extend that sentiment to how candidates are selected. Martin Wisckol in the Orange County Register -- 5/14/10 Ballot allows candidates fast political makeover -- As mail ballots land in mailboxes this week, California voters will come across some candidates who are described as something they're not - quite. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/10 New Yorker invites CalPERS back into a failed investment -- After losing $500 million on a controversial New York real estate deal, CalPERS is being asked to put more money into the same property. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 CalBuzz: Jean Ross: “The Battle for California’s Future” -- Today the Governor will release his final “May Revision” – the document that updates budget estimates and policy proposals. Jean Ross CalBuzz -- 5/14/10 UC Berkeley's Goodwin Liu wins panel approval -- President Obama's nomination of UC Berkeley law Professor Goodwin Liu to a federal appeals court won Senate Judiciary Committee approval on a party-line vote Thursday, with firm Republican opposition signaling a possible roadblock on the Senate floor. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/10
Scrutiny for Bets on Municipal Debt -- Federal regulators and state officials are examining Wall Street's role in trading derivatives that essentially bet the municipal bonds they sold would go bust. IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN in the Wall Street Journal -- 5/14/10 California wants to extend Cash for Appliances program -- California wants to tweak its Cash for Appliances program, giving consumers more time to obtain desired appliances and process rebates. Mark Glover in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 BART board debates plans for state windfall -- After three years of wrestling with massive deficits, and a year filled with fare increases, service cuts and labor tensions, BART directors find themselves confronting a budget with a slight surplus. So now they need to decide how - or whether - to spend the $4 million to $5 million. Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/10
State releases annual report ranking schools' academic performance -- State schools chief Jack O'Connell released the annual report that ranks schools academically and establishes their base Academic Performance Index score Thursday. Diana Lambert in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 Fensterwald: Landmark ruling on teacher layoffs -- A Superior Court judge has served notice to school districts statewide that the seniority rights of teachers do not trump the fundamental right of students to an equal opportunity for a good education. John Fensterwald educatedguess.org -- 5/14/10 Modesto teachers reach deal: Less pay, more kids -- The union that represents teachers in the Modesto City Schools district has reached a tentative contract agreement that would prevent most layoffs among its members while accepting a pay cut and fewer workdays. J.N. Sbranti in the Modesto Bee -- 5/14/10 Funds for research flowing into SDSU -- San Diego State University expects to obtain a record $150 million for research this fiscal year — 15 times the average of what a Cal State campus gets. Mike Lee and Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 5/14/10 Poorest Berkeley students to lose campus child care -- A handful of UC Berkeley's poorest students could have trouble attending school next year after the university stops subsidizing child care for parents who are unable to afford it. Matt Krupnick in the Oakland Tribune -- 5/14/10 Area schools hit bottom -- Thirty-one schools in the San Bernardino area received the lowest statewide ranking for performance on standardized tests, according to data released Thursday by the California Department of Education. Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell in the San Bernardino Sun -- 5/14/10
Boxer, Feinstein propose federal ban on oil drilling off Pacific Coast -- Seizing on a new wariness of offshore drilling fostered by the Gulf of Mexico disaster, California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein — and four other West Coast senators — on Thursday introduced legislation to permanently ban offshore oil drilling in federal waters off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. Mike Zapler in the Contra Costa Times Michael Doyle in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 U.S. said to allow drilling without needed permits -- The federal Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species — and despite strong warnings from that agency about the impact the drilling would likely have on the Gulf. AP -- 5/14/10 Sonoma County remains far from greenhouse gases goal -- Greenhouse gas emissions dropped slightly in Sonoma County last year, but it was scant evidence of progress in the campaign against climate change, environmentalists said Thursday. GUY KOVNER in the Santa Rosa Press -- 5/14/10
Doctor Pooling Plan Sparks Fear -- A hospital trade association is developing a plan for hospitals around southern California to form a foundation that would supply them with doctors. ANNA WILDE MATHEWS in the Wall Street Journal -- 5/14/10 Jury penalty against nursing home exceeds state's punishment -- State regulators were far kinder to an Auburn nursing home last year than a Sacramento jury was yesterday. Christina Jewett California Watch -- 5/14/10 Jury orders Auburn nursing home company to pay $28 million in death -- Make them feel it, attorney Ed Dudensing urged Sacramento Superior Court jurors who were weighing whether to financially punish a Rocklin nursing home company they had earlier found guilty of elder abuse. Cynthia Hubert in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10
Quiet border towns don't live up to their notoriety -- Southern cities from Texas to California are fairly secure from border violence, despite the ongoing drug war in Mexico. Nicholas Riccardi in the Los Angeles Times -- 5/14/10 Professors: Ariz. law passes constitutional test -- A panel of three law professors discussing Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law Thursday at UCSD concurred that the law could well pass constitutional muster, although violations could occur as police officers enforce it Leslie Berestein in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 5/14/10 Arizona religious leaders seek delay of immigration law, bring appeal to Washington -- The group of seven makes an 'emergency' visit to Capitol Hill, says comprehensive reform is needed: 'Border security alone has its limits.' Clement Tan in the Los Angeles Times -- 5/14/10 AP-Univision Poll: Views on Arizona law divided along ethnic lines -- An Associated Press-Univision Poll has found that big majorities of Latinos consider illegal immigrants a boon to the United States and condemn Arizona's new law targeting undocumented people. That is a sharp contrast to how non-Latinos view the smoldering issue of immigration. AP -- 5/14/10
Obama to critics: I told you so -- President Obama had a simple message Thursday for the Republicans who have tried to thwart his economic policies. I told you so. Michael D. Shear in the Washington Post -- 5/14/10 From the W.H. to Main St. to Wall St. -- President Barack Obama Wednesday went from his White House to Main Street tour of Buffalo to raising money for Democrats from Wall Street executives in Manhattan, even as he continued to blame them for the economic crisis and seek sweeping industry reforms in Congress. CAROL E. LEE & MAGGIE HABERMAN Politico -- 5/14/10 Authorities look into letter that may have come from cross thief -- Federal authorities are looking into a letter that may have come from whoever stole the Mojave cross earlier this week. BEN GOAD in the Riverside Press -- 5/14/10
Details revealed on tests of PG&E SmartMeters -- California energy regulators on Thursday provided their most detailed description yet of the types of tests investigators will use to check the accuracy of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s controversial SmartMeters. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/10 Governor distorted evidence in parole case -- A state appeals court said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger distorted the evidence to justify blocking the parole of a San Francisco man who murdered a Mission District security guard in 1993. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/10 California lawmakers back food stamps for drug felons -- The California state Assembly approved a bill Thursday that would allow convicted drug felons to collect food stamps without proving they are in treatment for their drug addiction. CATHY BUSSEWITZ AP -- 5/14/10 Homeboy Industries lays off most employees as financial woes worsen -- Homeboy Industries, the venerable L.A. institution designed to provide jobs and counseling to former gang members, laid off most of its employees Thursday amid worsening financial problems. Hector Becerra in the Los Angeles Times -- 5/14/10 L.A. police panel fails to disclose findings on use-of-force incidents -- The outcomes of reviews of at least 240 shootings and other violent encounters with suspects were not revealed, despite a Police Commission promise four years ago to post decisions on the Internet. Joel Rubin in the Los Angeles Times -- 5/14/10 California urges end to 'don't ask, don't tell' policy -- The California Legislature passed a resolution Thursday urging the federal government to end its "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military. CATHY BUSSEWITZ AP Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10 The biggest wheel rolling into town -- Lance Armstrong no longer inspires fear in fellow competitors the way he did when he won seven consecutive Tour de France titles and earned millions of dollars annually. Three years of retirement will do that. Blair Anthony Robertson in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/10
The do-nothing (but politics) House -- A routine science competitiveness bill may have crystallized what the House chamber has become at this moment in a frightening political cycle for Democrats: little more than an election-year staging ground. JONATHAN ALLEN & JAKE SHERMAN Politico -- 5/14/10 |
