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Slate's Mickey Kaus challenges Barbara Boxer in Dem primary -- Kaus, who lives in Southern California and is the son of former state Supreme Justice Otto Kaus, portrays himself as a centrist Democrat and has been particularly critical of his party's position on illegal immigration. Dan Walters SacBee Capitol Alert -- 3/2/10 Jerry Brown: Would welcome support from Obama and Arnold, but running "an independent campaign" -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown Tuesday said that while he would welcome support from both President Barack Obama and GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his effort to win a third term in office, he will pound the message that he's running "an independent campaign" and "separating myself from politics as usual." Carla Marinucci Chronicle Politics Weblog Michael Rothfeld in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 Assembly Committee Debates Costs of Open Primary Switch -- Four county registrars of voters told an Assembly committee March 2 that their costs of printing and processing ballots would increase if Californians approve Proposition 14, the so-called “open primary” initiative on the June ballot. Greg Lucas California's capitol weblog -- 3/2/10 Appeals court supports governor’s veto power -- A California appeals court sided Tuesday with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a fight with state lawmakers over the breadth of the governor’s line-item veto authority. Shane Goldmacher in the Los Angeles Times Kevin Yamamura SacBee Capitol Alert -- 3/2/10 Schwarznegger asks California Supreme Court to decide furlough cases -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the California Supreme Court to wade into the ongoing legal battle over whether he had the right to force unpaid furloughs on more than 200,000 state workers since last February. Shane Goldmacher in the Los Angeles Times Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 Former Jerry Brown adviser found dead -- The body of Ken Gosting, who was a high-ranking aide to Attorney General Jerry Brown during his governorship three decades ago, was found near his home in the Sierra foothills last week and local authorities said it appeared to be a suicide. Dan Walters SacBee Capitol Alert -- 3/2/10 KKK-style pillowcase found at UCSD -- University of California San Diego police say a crudely-fashioned KKK-style hood was found outside the campus library late Monday. Steve Schmidt and Roger Showley in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 3/2/10 Jerry Brown seeks return to Calif. governor's seat -- Democrat Jerry Brown officially entered the California governor's race Tuesday, giving the party an iconic candidate in a contest expected to be the most costly in state history. JULIET WILLIAMS AP Steven Harmon in the Contra Costa Times John Myers Capitol Notes weblog Carla Marinucci Chronicle Politics Weblog Michael Rothfeld in the Los Angeles Times Jack Chang in the Sacramento Bee Lisa Vorderbrueggen in the Contra Costa Times BRIAN JOSEPH in the Orange County Register -- 3/2/10 Not long ago, Jerry Brown said lack of experience did not matter in a governor -- As he launched a campaign against one Republican who has never held office (Meg Whitman) and another (Steve Poizner) with a four-year term as insurance commissioner under his belt, Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown on Tuesday said Californians need a governor with his long political resume and his "knowledge" of the job. Michael Rothfeld in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 Steve Poizner, Meg Whitman battle for Ronald Reagan mantle -- Republican gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner have resorted to name-calling as the primary election campaign heats up. And in Republican circles, there's no insult more cutting than the dreaded L-word, which has been injected into the race in recent days. Capitol Weekly's Anthony York in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 Justices signal they're ready to make gun ownership a national right -- A high court majority reviewing a handgun ban in Chicago indicates that it sees the right to 'bear arms' as national in scope, and can be used to strike down some state and local gun regulations. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 Perez on Maldonado confirmation vote: 'The ball's in his court' -- In his first press conference as Assembly speaker, John A. Pérez shied away from taking a stance on the fate of embattled lieutenant governor nominee Sen. Abel Maldonado, telling reporters that the governor's pick has "got to go and find his 41 votes." Torey Van Oot SacBee Capitol Alert -- 3/2/10 Wildermuth: Perez Talks the Bipartisan Talk -- John Perez said all the right things when he officially took over Monday as Assembly speaker. But it’s going to take more than banning legislators on the Assembly floor from taking text messages from lobbyists to fix California’s problems. John Wildermuth Fox & Hounds weblog -- 3/2/10 Lawmakers expand investigation into health insurance rate hikes -- The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has summoned the chiefs of WellPoint, UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Aetna to testify about denying claims for policyholders with pre-existing conditions. Duke Helfand in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 From guns to car seats, bill season cranks up at the California Capitol -- Take this year. Mindful of the Feb. 19 deadline for introducing new legislation in the current session, lawmakers in the four days before the deadline deposited an impressive 1,321 bills in the Assembly and Senate in-baskets. Steve Wiegand in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 Medical marijuana advocates file lawsuit challenging L.A. ordinance -- Medical marijuana advocates upped the ante Tuesday in the legal battle over Los Angeles' pot dispensaries by suing the city, claiming the ordinance that takes effect later this month is so restrictive it will cause even law-abiding businesses to shut down. Tony Barboza in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 LAO: Caltrans support budget full of bloat -- Caltrans — California’s Transportation Department — appears to spend far more than needed on support costs for its construction projects, wasting money that could be spent to improve and expand highways and public transit, according to a new report from the state’s Legislative Analyst. Dan Weintraub HealthyCal.org Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 Big cuts proposed for L.A. County sheriff, including jail transfers -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff''s Department is considering dramatic cuts to its budget that would include dramatically downsizing the Pitchess Detention Center in northern L.A. County as well as moving hundreds of administrators and desk-duty deputies into street patrols. Andrew Blankstein in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 Budget deficit delays Calif. no-swearing proposal -- Consider it yet another victim of California's ongoing fiscal mess: The state Senate has indefinitely postponed action on a do-gooder resolution that would encourage Californians to give up swearing temporarily. ROBIN HINDERY AP -- 3/2/10
Field Poll: More California voters prefer spending cuts, not taxes, to close deficit -- Half of California voters believe the state should close its $19.9 billion deficit mostly or entirely through spending cuts rather than tax increases, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday. Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 Jerry Brown to announce bid for governor Tuesday -- California's attorney general, who was twice elected governor in the 1970s, is expected to officially launch his candidacy online. Michael Rothfeld in the Los Angeles Times JESSE McKINLEY in the New York Times Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle Jack Chang in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 CalBuzz: How General Jerry Brown Won the Sun Tzu Primary -- “I assume most of you have read ‘The Art of War,’” Attorney General Jerry Brown said to the California Young Democrats last weekend. “The good general,” he said, paraphrasing Sun Tzu, “wins the war by not fighting. You defeat your adversary’s strategy. I’m going to do that.” Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine CalBuzz -- 3/2/10 Whitman: Doing more with less could save $15 billion -- California gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman said Monday that the state could achieve $15 billion in savings without eliminating a single program. DUANE W. GANG in the Riverside Press James Rufus Koren in the San Bernardino Sun -- 3/2/10 Poizner poised to launch first statewide ad campaign -- Days after his billionaire opponent launched a series of ads attacking him, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner will begin his long-anticipated airwaves assault today. Ken McLaughlin in the San Jose Mercury -- 3/2/10 Fox: A One-Term Pledge for Jerry Brown? -- One of the more bizarre conspiracy theories I heard recently was that Attorney General Jerry Brown persuaded San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to drop out of the governor’s race by offering to support him later for the Lieutenant Governor’s office. In turn, Brown would declare he would serve only one-term paving the road for Newsom to move up. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds weblog -- 3/2/10 G.O.P. Aims for California, but Rifts Arise -- If Republicans are to have a serious chance of capturing control of the Senate in November, they are going to have to win in traditionally Democratic states like California, where Senator Barbara Boxer, a three-term Democrat, is showing signs of vulnerability. ADAM NAGOURNEY in the New York Times -- 3/2/10 California initiative process has gone off course -- Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the ballot initiative in California, but I'm not sure if we should hold a party or a wake. Chip Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/2/10 California Forward could halt initiative campaign by week's end -- Officials from the reform group California Forward said today that unless deep-pocketed donors come through with pledges for big support, the campaign to qualify a package of their budget reform proposals for the November ballot could be put on ice. Steve Wiegand SacBee Capitol Alert -- 3/2/10 California Assembly swears in its first gay speaker -- John A. Pérez takes the oath in an untraditional ceremony. His priorities include restoring simple majority rule on budget issues and barring lobbyists from texting legislators during floor debate. Jack Dolan and Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 Walters: Pérez begins California speakership already losing -- As John A. Pérez became speaker of the state Assembly on Monday, the Los Angeles Democrat remarked that his first political campaign, 20-plus years ago, was as a teenager opposing construction of a prison in East Los Angeles. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 First comprehensive donation app launches -- Digital fundraising just got a lot more mobile. The first application allowing people to donate to all congressional campaigns directly from their mobile phones launches Tuesday. Eric Kuhn CNN -- 3/2/10 Donors pay $303,550 for governor's Middle East trip -- The business-backed California State Protocol Foundation paid $303,550 for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to travel five days last November to Israel and Iraq, according to a gift disclosure form he filed today. Kevin Yamamura SacBee Capitol Alert -- 3/2/10 Schrag: California: the golden state of special interests -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to complain about the pernicious influence of “the special interests” (almost always with the definite article). If you parse the context carefully, he seems mostly to mean public employee unions – the teachers, the prison guards, maybe the nurses and firefighters who’ve beaten him in some costly ballot fights and wag a lot of tails in the legislature. Peter Schrag Cal Progress Report -- 3/2/10
Pension reform in 20 states, but not California -- A new study says the economic downturn has prompted 20 states to make cost-cutting public pension reforms during the last two years — lower benefits for new hires, extended retirement ages and bigger payments from workers. California is not among them. Ed Mendel Calpensions.com -- 3/2/10 Reforms to CalPERS pension face uphill battle -- Reforming the state's overburdened pension system is popular refrain in Sacramento, but that doesn't mean it's easy to get done. Marisa Lagos in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/2/10
UC students protest to legislators over cuts -- Five UC students were arrested Monday at the office of Assemblyman Jim Nielsen after refusing to leave unless the Gerber (Tehama County) Republican pledged to preserve funding for higher education and increase student diversity. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle Laurel Rosenhall in the Sacramento Bee ROBIN HINDERY AP -- 3/2/10 SDSU’s admissions for local students fall by more than 50% -- A new admissions policy at San Diego State, which is slashing enrollment, has reduced by more than half the number of high school graduates from the university’s local service area who will join the next freshman class. Keith Darcé in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 3/2/10 Fensterwald: State on no one’s Race to Top short list -- Word in the education blogosphere is that the Department of Education will announce the finalists for Race to the Top competition on Thursday, and none of the handicappers – surprise! – has listed California among them. John Fensterwald educatedguess.org -- 3/2/10 LAUSD expected to approve 4,700 layoff notices -- Los Angeles Unified officials are expected to approve a mass mailing of nearly 4,700 layoff notices for teachers, administrators, counselors and nurses Tuesday as they work to close a crippling $640 million budget deficit. Connie Llanos in the Torrance Daily Breeze -- 3/2/10 Student apologizes for noose in UC San Diego library -- The campus paper publishes an anonymous letter by a minority student who calls the incident 'a mindless act and stupid mistake.' Larry Gordon in the Los Angeles Times Steve Schmidt in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 3/2/10 Obama Backs Rewarding Districts That Police Failing Schools -- President Obama said Monday that he favored federal rewards for local school districts that fire underperforming teachers and close failing schools, saying educators needed to be held accountable when they failed to fix chronically troubled classrooms and curb the student dropout rate. JEFF ZELENY in the New York Times -- 3/2/10
Study of hospitals puts price tag on California's dirty air -- California's dirty air led to nearly $200 million in hospital spending over a three-year period – including $9 million in Sacramento County – because of asthma, pneumonia and other pollution-triggered ailments, according to a study released today. Bobby Caina Calvan in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 Orange officials sue couple who removed their lawn -- City codes require that live landscaping cover 40% of the yard. Quan and Angelina Ha say their water use has dropped 80% since they replaced the grass with wood chips and drought-tolerant plants. Amina Khan in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 California's net metering cap to double to 5 percent -- California's solar industry is celebrating a ray of good news: the cap on so-called "net metering," which allows homes and businesses to earn credit for any excess solar power they generate, has been doubled. Dana Hull in the San Jose Mercury -- 3/2/10
Anthem Blue Cross sued over rate increases -- A consumer group filed a lawsuit Monday against Anthem Blue Cross, accusing the insurer of raising rates to force members into policies with higher deductibles and lower benefits. Victoria Colliver in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/2/10 Insurance rate hikes fan political firestorm -- While intense scrutiny is being focused on Anthem Blue Cross for proposing rate hikes of up to 39 percent on hundreds of thousands of Californians who buy insurance on their own, other insurers are delivering some equally jolting rate increases. Bobby Caina Calvan in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 Doctors cut off Medicare patients -- As several Ventura County doctors announced Monday they’ve stopped seeing new Medicare patients because of a 21-percent pay cut, seniors worried about getting care. Tom Kisken in the Ventura Star -- 3/2/10 Rancho Cordova-based insurer launches medical marijuana coverage -- A Rancho Cordova-based insurer Monday launched what it calls the first nationally available insurance coverage designed specifically for the medical marijuana industry. Mark Glover in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10 Lazarus: Information on U.S. website for medical data thefts is bare-bones -- The Health and Human Services site reveals little about specific security breaches. David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 Children are hungrier for snacks, study finds -- Chips and sweets make up 27% of their average daily calories, research says, suggesting that such treats have become more integral to kids' routines. Melissa Healy in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 Winters doctors dispense prescriptions for exercise and diet -- It's a new use for the venerable Rx pad, long a symbol of a physician's authority to prescribe medications. Clinic staff members say the written instructions carry more weight than merely telling patients they ought to eat better and exercise more. Hudson Sangree in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10
San Francisco teenager facing deportation after getting in fight -- A woman and her 13-year-old son are scheduled to be deported to Australia by Friday after the teenager was referred to immigration authorities under a contentious city policy. Juliana Barbassa AP Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/2/10
Obama's secret craving: pie -- The famously self-disciplined president who seemingly can’t miss a morning workout has a secret craving: pie. Peter Nicholas in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10
Drug gangs taking over US public lands -- Not far from Yosemite's waterfalls and in the middle of California's redwood forests, Mexican drug gangs are quietly commandeering U.S. public land to grow millions of marijuana plants and using smuggled immigrants to cultivate them. Alicia A. Caldwell and Manuel Valdes AP -- 3/2/10 Team overseeing national database of dangerous or incompetent caregivers is removed -- The reassignments come in response to a ProPublica-Los Angeles Times story that found the repository was probably missing thousands of serious disciplinary cases against health providers. Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 Anti-casino TV ad hits Richmond -- Mailers and a television ad hit Richmond over the weekend calling on residents to oppose the construction of an Indian casino on Point Molate. Lisa Vorderbrueggen Political Blotter weblog -- 3/2/10 One-time TSA nominee resigns from police post at L.A. World Airports -- Erroll Southers, who in January withdrew his nomination to head the Transportation Security Administration after encountering Republican opposition, is resigning as assistant police chief of Los Angeles World Airports. Jeff Gottlieb in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/2/10 What happens when departments can't cover vacation cash-outs? -- In the course of our reporting, state departments almost invariably told us that they covered the cost of the cash-outs within their own budgets, making sure to set money aside each year to cover typical retirement costs. But we found at least one department that needed to ask the Legislature for more money not once, but at least twice since 2006. Chase Davis California Watch -- 3/2/10 Grieving parents win 'ought to be a law' contest -- Bills were suggested by a father of children who were killed in DUI crash, and by a mother whose daughter could not find a bone marrow donor. Lisa Vorderbrueggen in the Contra Costa Times -- 3/2/10 Lawmakers Keep the Change -- When lawmakers travel overseas on official business they are given up to $250 a day in taxpayer funds to cover meals and expenses. Congressional rules say they must return any leftover cash to the government. They usually don't. BRODY MULLINS and T.W. FARNAM in the Wall Street Journal -- 3/2/10 Woodland cheese shoplifter gets 7 years 8 months in prison -- A Yolo County judge on Monday sentenced a man who walked out of a store with a package of cheese in his trousers to seven years and eight months in prison. Hudson Sangree in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/2/10
Pelosi's challenge: Hold the line -- The world has changed a lot since the House passed its health care bill last fall. PATRICK O'CONNOR Politico -- 3/2/10 Must-pass bills falter in unpopular Congress as Dems blame GOP -- The gridlock problem came to a head when Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) held up a 30-day extension in unemployment benefits, filibustering what Democrats assumed would be a slam-dunk bill. Alexander Bolton The Hill -- 3/2/10 |
