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Anthony Adams recall attempt fails -- A recall effort against Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams, mounted by anti-tax activists and a pair of talk-show radio hosts, failed to qualify for the ballot, the secretary of state announced today. John Howard in Capitol Weekly -- 11/20/09 Polls continue to show Meg Whitman’s momentum -- A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows Republican Meg Whitman in a dead heat with Democrat Jerry Brown in the race for governor, a big swing from less than two months ago when Rasmussen showed Brown 9 percentage points ahead and this Field Poll showed him 20 points ahead. Martin Wisckol in the Orange County Register -- 11/20/09 Wright opens legal defense fund in wake of residency probe -- Democratic state Sen. Rod Wright , whose residency claims are the subject of an investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, has opened a campaign account to pay for potential legal costs. Torey Van Oot SacBee Capitol Alert -- 11/20/09 California unemployment rate hits 12.5 percent -- California's unemployment rate rose to 12.5 percent in October to set another modern record, even though more than 25,000 Californians found jobs, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday. October's job gains followed 66,000 job losses the month before. AP Alana Semuels in the Los Angeles Times George Avalos in the Oakland Tribune -- 11/20/09 State unemployment at 12.5 percent, but job growth returns -- California unemployment increased to 12.5 percent last month, but the state actually added jobs for the first time in more than a year. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/09 Silicon Valley jobless rate rises to 11.9 percent -- That compares with a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 12.5 percent throughout California and 10.2 percent in the U.S. Frank Michael Russell in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/20/09 Kevin Johnson's accuser says he offered to pay her $1,000 a month -- Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson offered to pay $1,000 a month to one of three girls who had accused him of inappropriately touching her while she was involved in his St. HOPE Hood Corps program, the girl told federal agents during their investigation of Johnson's nonprofit St. HOPE organization last year. Ryan Lillis and Sam Stanton in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/09 UC Berkeley students protest student fee hike -- University of California Berkeley students protesting a 32 percent increase in student fees have barricaded themselves in part of a campus building. AP Doug Oakley and Chris Metinko in the Oakland Tribune Henry K. Lee in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/09 Is new GPS tool illegal immigrant aid? -- There seems to be a mobile phone application for just about everything these days -- even illegal border crossing. CINDY CARCAMO in the Orange County Register -- 11/20/09 Schwarzenegger after-school program ties up budget -- With California facing another mammoth budget deficit, the state's nonpartisan legislative analyst says voters should reconsider some of the billions of dollars tied up in ballot measures they have approved in recent years. JULIET WILLIAMS AP -- 11/20/09 California Adopts Stricter Rules for Drug Abusers in the Health Industry -- In a major shift, California will impose tough new standards (PDF) on drug-abusing health professionals, strictly scrutinizing those in treatment and immediately removing from practice anyone who relapses. Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber ProPublica -- 11/20/09 A Crown Jewel of Education Struggles With Cuts -- As the University of California struggles to absorb its sharpest drop in state financing since the Great Depression, every professor, administrator and clerical worker has been put on furlough amounting to an average pay cut of 8 percent. TAMAR LEWIN in the New York Times -- 11/20/09 No UC Merced med school funds in Senate bill -- A 2,074-page health-care bill unveiled in the Senate this week omits funding for proposed medical schools at the University of California at Merced and other institutions. Michael Doyle in the Fresno Bee -- 11/20/09 Fox: Pay Cut Decision is a No-Brainer -- The budget is in woeful deficit, unemployment is at record levels, public employees are on furlough – of course, the state lawmakers must share the pain. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds weblog -- 11/20/09 Wildermuth: Budget Should Be Focus of Tobacco Tax -- Don Perata apparently has decided that cancer research is sexier than the state budget when it comes to his election plans. John Wildermuth Fox & Hounds weblog -- 11/20/09
Top California officials' pay to be cut 18% in December -- Just in time for the holiday season, lawmakers will have their salaries cut by $20,917 annually while California's 12 top state officials will see reductions of at least $28,644 apiece. Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times Marisa Lagos in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/09 Meg Whitman on Jerry Brown: Californians have "had it with career politicians" -- Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman gave an expansive interview to ABC News' Teddy Davis today, covering everything from Sarah Palin to 2010 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown -- and, on that one, she's already swinging away. Carla Marinucci Chronicle Politics Weblog -- 11/20/09 Ex-Lt. Gov. Reinecke endorses Whitman -- Ed Reinecke, who was California lieutenant governor some 40 years ago until being forced to resign after being touched by the Watergate scandal, has endorsed Meg Whitman for the Republican nomination for governor, the Whitman campaign announced today. Dan Walters SacBee Capitol Alert -- 11/20/09 Assembly race led to Ayres' downfall -- Ayres' once-promising 2006 campaign for the Assembly ended in a third-place finish and now could land the San Jacinto councilman behind bars. JIM MILLER in the Riverside Press -- 11/20/09 Walters: Newest state budget clash will be bloody -- When Mac Taylor, the Legislature's chief budget adviser, declared this week that the state budget enacted just four months ago is already billions of dollars upside down, no one in the Capitol should have been surprised. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/09 CalPERS board members endorse new lobbying rules -- Legislation would scrap the pay system for agents who try to persuade the state's public pension fund to invest with their clients. Marc Lifsher in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/09 CalPERs exec disputes naysayers -- CalPERS' chief financial officer delivered a pep talk of sorts Thursday on the pension fund's portfolio, disputing consultants who've cast doubt on its ability to recoup its losses. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/09 Gay marriage ad to air on Miss California TV; In response, Carrie Prejean will respond with 30 seconds of video about .... -- The Miss California USA beauty pageant is anything but dull and this year's gig -- on Sunday -- just turned as political as last year's. Carla Marinucci Chronicle Politics Weblog -- 11/20/09 Nava’s AG fundraiser set for Harris’ backyard -- Environmentalists will hold a fundraiser next month for the state Attorney General campaign of Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, right in one of his chief rivals’ backyards. Josh Richman Political Blotter weblog -- 11/20/09 Pension board member directed funds to a firm with ties to his, documents show -- Three years after a real estate firm invested in his company, Elliott Broidy voted with fellow panel members to place up to $30 million with the fund. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/09 Issa cries 'propaganda,' White House defends job claim -- The Obama administration's claim that economic stimulus efforts have created or preserved more than 640,000 jobs is based on flawed reporting from the program's beneficiaries, the man tapped to oversee accountability in the process conceded Thursday. BEN GOAD in the Riverside Press -- 11/20/09 California consumer group gives Republicans low marks; AG candidate swipes back -- Three Democrats vying to be California's next state attorney general reliably supported consumer protection efforts this year, drawing praise this week from one of the state's leading advocacy groups. CHRIS RIZO Legalnewsline.com -- 11/20/09 State pulls San Quentin financing from bond sale -- Last-minute objections from Assemblyman Jared Huffman and Sen. Mark Leno have prompted state Treasurer Bill Lockyer to put on hold plans for issuing bonds to pay for the expansion of death row at San Quentin State Prison. Richard Halstead in the Marin IJ -- 11/19/09 Santa Clara stadium group gets jump on election -- A pro-Santa Clara stadium group stocked with former civic leaders has fired the first salvo in the ballot-box battle over moving the San Francisco 49ers to Silicon Valley - sending out a mailer this week even though an election date for the proposed stadium hasn't been set. John Coté, Michael Cabanatuan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/09 Oops. Correa challenger doesn’t live in Correa’s district -- Orange County’s corner of the political blogosphere has been abuzz with talk of a mysterious GOP candidate who has emerged as a challenger to Democratic state Sen. Lou Correa of Santa Ana. BRIAN JOSEPH in the Orange County Register -- 11/20/09 CalBuzz: Is Brown Blowing It? Polls, Tapes & Hollywood -- Now that Jerry Brown has swooped in and out of Hollywood to collect more than $1 million in a single night, it’s well past time for him to hire a cadre of actual professionals to manage and focus his scattershot uncampaign for governor. Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine CalBuzz -- 11/20/09
Utility shut-offs soar for poor PG&E customers -- The number of low-income households cut off by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. after they fell behind on their utility bills jumped 75 percent this year, according to a state report released Thursday. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/09 Recession is in play at California's tribal casinos -- Visitors are still streaming in, but they've cut back on spending, operators say. Analysts say the casinos aren't likely to see a pickup in revenue until the middle of 2010. Hugo Martín in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/09 Foreclosures will keep rising through 2010, report says --Mortgage Bankers Assn. says delinquencies and home repossessions have hit a new high. Blaming job losses for most of the pain, it sees a continued surge in foreclosures through all of next year. E. Scott Reckard in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/09 Foreclosures hitting more people with good credit -- Driven by rising unemployment, fixed-rate loans accounted for nearly one-third of new foreclosures last quarter, the banking association said. Kevin Smith in the San Gabriel Tribune -- 11/20/09 Podcast: Seeing Red, Again -- On this week's Capital Notes Podcast, we take a look at this week's prediction of a $20.7 billion budget gap and what that means for lawmakers once they return to Sacramento. John Myers Capitol Notes weblog -- 11/20/09 Capital region home prices falling, but mostly by single digits -- Sacramento-area home prices are still falling compared to a year ago, but for the first time in almost 2 1/2 years, their decline can be measured in single digits. Jim Wasserman in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/09
UC regents give final approval to fee hikes -- As angry students chanted outside, University of California regents Thursday approved a 32 percent fee increase that will raise the price of a UC education to more than $10,000 per year for the first time. Matt Krupnick in the Oakland Tribune Larry Gordon and Amina Khan in the Los Angeles Times STU WOO in the Wall Street Journal Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Matt Krupnick in the Oakland Tribune Teresa Rochester in the Ventura Star -- 11/20/09 UCLA students end a day of protest over fee hikes -- After a day of protests over student fee hikes that roiled the UCLA campus, a final group of students who had taken over Campbell Hall left the building peacefully this evening. Amina Khan in the Los Angeles Times Eleanor Yang Su in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 11/20/09 Dozens of protesters arrested at UC Davis -- The students were protesting the governing board of the University of California approving a $2,500 student fee increase Thursday after two days of tense campus protests across the state. Hudson Sangree in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/09 Rage at UC fee hike in L.A., Berkeley protests -- The UC regents are expected to put the final seal today on a hefty 32 percent tuition increase as students resume the protests that shut down their board meeting three times Wednesday and required campus police in riot gear to maintain calm. Nanette Asimov, Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/20/09
A Discouraging Word Isn't Enough to Control Catalina's Fertile Buffalo -- Conservationist Carlos de la Rosa still likes to see buffalo roaming Southern California's famed Santa Catalina Island. Just not so many of them. SARAH MCBRIDE in the Wall Street Journal -- 11/20/09 How San Diego's Largest Water Users Are Conserving (or Not) -- A year ago at the Balboa Park Golf Course, a brown patch in the rough would've been cause for concern. Employees at the city-owned course would've brought out a portable sprinkler or hose to revive the dying grass. ROB DAVIS Voiceofsandiego.org -- 11/20/09
California flu-related deaths, hospitalizations slowing -- Health officials warn, however, the swine flu strain is still a major concern, and hundreds of Californians are still being hospitalized. The vaccine shortage continues. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/09 UC regents approve partnership with L.A. County to reopen King medical facility -- The regents, some expressing concern about potential pitfalls, said they acted out of a moral imperative to aid the community for which the hospital was once a point of pride. Molly Hennessy-Fiske in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/09 California adopts stricter rules for drug abusers in the health industry -- Nurses, dentists and other professionals with addictions will be subject to more drug tests, and any restrictions to their licenses will be listed on public websites. Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/09 UC Davis Health System sues Sacramento County over unpaid medical bills -- The University of California, Davis, Health System is suing Sacramento County for failing to pay as much as $125 million in medical bills for indigent patients from July 2008 through September 2009. Robert Lewis in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/09 San Francisco health care a model during national debate -- This city did not wait for Washington's health care overhaul. Most uninsured adults here are already reaping the benefits of a government-run health care program — seeing doctors, filling prescriptions, and getting surgeries they could not otherwise afford. JULIANA BARBASSA AP -- 11/20/09
More Employers Face Immigration Audits -- About 1,000 U.S. employers will be audited for immigration violations as the federal government escalates pressure on business owners to resist hiring illegal immigrants. CAM SIMPSON and MIRIAM JORDAN in the Wall Street Journal -- 11/20/09 Sixty area firms targeted for worker eligibility check -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement inspectors are examining 60 businesses in San Diego and Imperial counties to make sure their workers are eligible for employment, the federal agency announced Thursday. The item is in the North County Times -- 11/20/09 Report: Info muddled on immigrants and crime -- That man in the back of a squad car on his way to jail: What are the chances he was born in the United States? CINDY CARCAMO in the Orange County Register -- 11/19/09
Religious, homophobic hate surges in L.A. county -- Partially fueled by the election of President Barack Obama and the statewide controversy over gay marriage, hate crimes based on sexual orientation shot up 21 percent in Los Angeles County last year, while religious crimes increased 14 percent, according to a county report released Thursday. Troy Anderson in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 11/20/09 L.A. County hate crimes drop 4% -- But gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people were targeted more often, prompted in part by last November's highly charged Prop. 8 initiative, report says. Raja Abdulrahim in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/20/09 California, Sacramento County to probe in-home care -- California teamed with Sacramento County officials Thursday to launch a first-in-the-state multi-agency task force to investigate fraud in In-Home Supportive Services. Susan Ferriss in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/20/09 Seven accused of defrauding Inland home investors of millions -- Seven people were arrested Thursday and charged with operating a $142 million mortgage and security fraud that pushed 201 Riverside County homes into foreclosure and harmed hundreds of investors in California and Arizona, driving many to financial ruin. LESLIE BERKMAN in the Riverside Press -- 11/20/09
Will Tea Partiers turn on each other? -- After emerging out of nowhere over the summer as a seemingly potent and growing political force, the tea party movement has become so rife with internal feuding over philosophy, strategy and money that some supporters fear it will disintegrate before realizing its full potential. KENNETH P. VOGEL Politico -- 11/20/09 |
