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State employees pile up vacation time, exceeding caps and costing millions -- Amid a crippling fiscal crisis, managers throughout California’s government have routinely allowed their employees to amass unused vacation time, enabling hundreds of workers to end their public-service careers with payouts topping $100,000, a California Watch investigation has found. Chase Davis California Watch -- 2/28/10 GOP U.S. Senate candidates will debate Friday -- The three Republican U.S. Senate candidates will debate for the first time Friday on Sacramento radio host Eric Hogue's show. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10 Prop. 13 flexes its political muscle -- Meg Whitman's use of the measure as a weapon against Poizner in the GOP race for governor recalls the politics of 1978, the year the initiative passed. Cathleen Decker in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10 California Assembly Speaker-elect Pérez has ties to deep pockets -- The legislator, who has cultivated an image as a crusader for the marginalized and powerless, has also advocated for the powerful. Patrick McGreevy and Jack Dolan in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10 Your guide to the California governor's race -- It's 100 days before the June primary, and California is about to be treated to a governor's race for the ages. Ken McLaughlin, Steven Harmon and Denis C. Theriault in the San Jose Mercury -- 2/28/10 Jerry Brown, Steve Poizner, Meg Whitman: Candidates for California governor present studies in contrast -- The three people vying to be California's next governor offer differing styles, levels of political experience and degrees of wealth. Ken McLaughlin, Steven Harmon and Denis C. Theriault in the San Jose Mercury -- 2/28/10 Brown reaches out to young Dems for support -- Democratic state Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has pledged "very soon" to formally kick off his gubernatorial campaign, issued an appeal for support to young Democratic voters Saturday - even as he refused to be pinned down on declaring himself a candidate. Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/28/10 Lopez: A political orphan in Sacramento -- Sen. Abel Maldonado has been pilloried by fellow Republicans for breaking ranks on taxes and rejected by Assembly Democrats as lieutenant governor. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10 New California speaker says Maldonado's chances improved -- Minutes after new Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez is sworn in Monday, he will make it clear that government can – and must – do better. Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee -- 2/28/10 Walters: California wants and needs fixing -- Nearly 90 percent of California voters believe that state government needs an overhaul to make it more effective, a new statewide poll found, with virtually identical numbers among Democrats, Republicans and independents. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 2/28/10 Saunders: Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Fantasyland -- The villain in "A Time to Run," Sen. Barbara Boxer's first novel, is a conservative writer for The San Francisco Chronicle. A salvo at moi? Hardly. Debra J. Saunders in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 2/28/10 Some fear California's high-speed rail won't deliver on early promises -- Despite a new $2.25-billion infusion of federal economic stimulus funding, there are intensifying concerns -- even among some high-speed rail supporters -- that California's proposed bullet train may not deliver on the financial and ridership promises made to win voter backing in 2008. Rich Connell and Dan Weikel in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10 Shrag: California Supreme Court could limit initiatives, but hasn't -- For nearly a decade, California Chief Justice Ron George has been increasingly vocal in his criticism of the state's initiative process. At a conference at Stanford on state constitutions recently, he leveled what was probably his fiercest attack. Peter Schrag in the Sacramento Bee -- 2/28/10 Schwarzenegger turns out for after-school program he helped launch -- The After-School All-Stars — a tax-exempt group founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the early 1990s to provide tutoring, recreation and other programs for poor children — has now grown to provide after-school programs for 81,000 middle and high school students at 450 campuses around the country. Ellen Olivier in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10 CalBuzz: Difi Detritus Meets Campbell Jihad Fall-Out -- Are you going to believe us or your lying eyes? Our aging tickers have almost, finally, chilled out from all the excitement of the big finish to Dianne Feinstein’s epic Dance of the Seven Veils (free at last, free at last!) Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine CalBuzz -- 2/28/10
Setbacks in Wine Country -- The North Coast wine industry, home to the highest concentration of high-end wineries and vineyards in the nation, is reeling from the impacts of a recession that has made it chic to drink cheap wine. Kevin McCallum in the Santa Rosa Press -- 2/28/10 Caltrans' water bill reaches $4.4 million for road repairs -- Storms during the past few weeks dumped massive amounts of rain and dipped into Caltrans coffers to the tune of $4.4 million thus far, officials said. DUG BEGLEY in the Riverside Press -- 2/28/10 Morain: NUMMI closure shows failure of California talk about job creation -- Excuse Stanley Mayfield if he is less than impressed when politicians one-up each other to show how much they care about jobs. Dan Morain in the Sacramento Bee -- 2/28/10 Republicans, Democrats differ over impact of stimulus locally -- The federal stimulus package has allocated more than $900 million for local projects, but congressional Republicans and Democrats from the Inland Empire disagree about whether the money spent so far has accomplished its main goal: creating jobs. James Rufus Koren in the Inland Daily Bulletin -- 2/28/10
Governor says racial incidents must stop -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the recent “horrific incidents” that have caused racial unrest at the University of California San Diego must stop. Craig Gustafson in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 2/28/10 UC Davis police investigate vandalism as hate crimes -- A swastika, carved into a Jewish student's door in the Tercero residence hall, was discovered Feb. 19, said Lt. Matt Carmichael of the UC Davis Police Department. Cathy Locke in the Sacramento Bee -- 2/28/10 Education protests on tap this week in California -- The protests, teach-ins and walkouts that swept through University of California campuses this fall are scheduled to come back this week. But this time the activism is moving beyond UC – to include Cal State, community college and K-12 campuses – and beyond California to other states as well. Laurel Rosenhall in the Sacramento Bee -- 2/28/10 Lawyers sue school districts over teacher layoffs -- As the state's budget crunch seemingly tightens daily, groups of lawyers are fighting the decision of school districts to balance budgets by sending teachers to the unemployment line. Corey G. Johnson California Watch -- 2/28/10
Bike station opens at Claremont Metrolink station -- Bikestation Claremont is a secure, around the clock, indoor bike parking station. It includes a self-repair stand and tools, restroom and changing room, according to Metrolink. Lori Consalvo in the Inland Daily Bulletin -- 2/28/10
Senator Pushes His Plan to Overhaul Health Care -- To many California political insiders, the idea of the state adopting a Canadian-style health plan — run by the government with care delivered by private doctors and hospitals — seems fanciful. DANIEL WEINTRAUB in the New York Times -- 2/28/10 Hiltzik: What do we need health insurers for anyway? -- Angela Braly can't kid me. When the chief executive of gargantuan health insurer WellPoint (parent of Blue Cross of California) went before a congressional subcommittee the other day, she displayed all the smile-through-the-tears pluck of Annie looking to a sunny tomorrow or Scarlett swearing to God she'll never be hungry again. Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10 McManus: Time for some old-fashioned partisanship -- Obama's success on healthcare reform depends entirely on marshaling Democratic support. Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10
Latino Democrats form immigration reform group -- Frustrated by the lack of progress on immigration reform, area Latino Democrats are forming a new group to pressure the Obama Administration to take action on the issue. Stephen Wall in the San Bernardino Sun -- 2/28/10
Businessman held on $1-million bail in supergraphic case -- In a dramatic escalation of the war against illegal supergraphics in Los Angeles, authorities have jailed a businessman accused of posting an eight-story movie advertisement on an office building at one of Hollywood's busiest intersections. David Zahniser in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10 L.A. County cities seek to merge police forces to cut costs -- Maywood, which is spearheading the effort with Bell, has requested federal funds for a three-month feasibility study. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times -- 2/28/10 As the city's financial crisis deepens, pressure grows to cut ranks of LAPD -- Los Angeles' increasingly dire financial health raises serious doubt about the once sacrosanct pledge to keep LAPD's ranks at the current record high of just less than 10,000 officers. Rick Orlov in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 2/28/10
Paul burned by Tea Party blowback -- Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-oriented Republican whose 2008 presidential run provided kindling for the Tea Party movement, suddenly finds himself dealing with the blowback: a handful of Tea Party-inspired candidates are seeking to dislodge him in Tuesday’s Texas Republican primary. ALEX ISENSTADT Politico -- 2/28/10 Decision Could Allow Anonymous Political Contributions by Businesses -- The Supreme Court decision last month allowing corporations to spend unlimited money on behalf of political candidates left a loophole that campaign finance lawyers say could allow companies to pay for extensive political advertising while avoiding the disclosure requirements the court appeared to leave intact. GRIFF PALMER in the New York Times -- 2/28/10 |
