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Dem operative accuses Whitman campaign of lying to police -- Nick Velasquez, still fuming over the Whitman campaign’s treatment of his campaign tracker, Jeremy Thompson, earlier this month in Orange County, is accusing the campaign of lying to police. Steven Harmon Political Blotter weblog -- 3/31/10 AP Enterprise: Calif. freeing some violent inmates -- Inmates convicted of violent crimes are among those being freed early from California jails to save money, despite lawmakers' promises that they would exclude most dangerous prisoners and sex offenders. DON THOMPSON AP -- 3/31/10 Defendants deserve immigration advice, court rules -- Supreme Court justices confront a strict federal law on deportation in two criminal cases. David Savage in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10 Obama oil-drilling restrictions would not preempt Schwarzenegger proposal -- A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said new oil drilling restrictions laid out by the Obama administration would not affect the governor's plan to resume limited oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara County. Capitol Weekly's Anthony York in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10 Obama unveils five rules to energize politics -- Fresh from a major victory in the highly charged healthcare debate, President Obama on Wednesday gave a glimpse on how he plans to deal with political battles of the future as he formally unveiled his energy policy. Michael Muskal in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10 Rivals attack Senate hopeful Fiorina -- Carly Fiorina’s GOP rivals in the race to unseat Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer offered far more barbs for the former Hewlett-Packard CEO at Tuesday’s debate than I could fit in the short newspaper account. Martin Wisckol in the Orange County Register -- 3/31/10 4 in 10 L.A. County births are unplanned pregnancies -- About 40% of births in Los Angeles County each year are the result of unplanned pregnancies, which can endanger the health of babies, according to a study released Wednesday by the county's Department of Public Health. Molly Hennessy-Fiske in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10 KTVU wins Peabody Award for coverage of BART shooting -- KTVU (Channel 2) on Wednesday was honored with a Peabody Award for its coverage of last year's fatal BART platform shooting of Oscar Grant III and events that have followed. Chuck Barney in the Contra Costa Times -- 3/31/10 President Obama pays tribute to Jaime Escalante -- A day after Jaime Escalante’s death, President Obama issued a statement praising the maverick math teacher. Kate Linthicum in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10 Who’ll be biggest loser among OC public schools? -- A new analysis by the California Budget Project- an independent, nonpartisan think tank in Sacramento – brings the figures down to earth. In the classroom, they translate into $432 per student, statewide (with more to come; see below). Teri Sforza in the Orange County Register -- 3/31/10 Dems deem East Bay AG candidate ‘not viable’ -- Mike Schmier is steamed that despite his place on the Demcoratic primary ballot for Attorney General, the California Democratic Party won’t let him speak or stand for endorsement at its convention next month in Los Angeles. Josh Richman Political Blotter weblog -- 3/31/10 Steve Poizner's book hits Amazon bestseller list -- Thumbnail image for Poizner book.JPGA day before Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner's book "Mount Pleasant" hits bookstores, it's already climbed up the Amazon bestseller list, reaching number two yesterday and currently sitting at number six. Jack Chang SacBee Capitol Alert --3/31/10 State library counsel: Libraries can display Whitman policy book -- California State Library general counsel Paul Smith has jumped into the debate about whether libraries can display GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's 48-page policy booklet, which her campaign has said it is sending to some 1,400 libraries statewide. Jack Chang SacBee Capitol Alert --3/31/10 Wildermuth: Politics Often Behind FPPC Complaints -- Ah, politics. The clash of ideas, the roar of the crowds and the whining of the candidates. There’s nothing like calling a press conference and tossing out some angry accusations to brighten a slow news day and maybe grab some free publicity. John Wildermuth Fox & Hounds weblog -- 3/31/10 Whitman vows another 'incremental investment' to her campaign -- Republican Meg Whitman has already donated $39 million of her own money to her campaign for governor -- a state record. Her campaign has burned through the cash at an unprecedented rate, leaving her effort a bit thin financially as the final push for the June primary begins. Cathleen Decker in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10 Fox: Superman Poizner, Erudite Will and the Ever Controversial Sarah Palin -- You’ve probably seen the gubernatorial campaign ad of Steve Poizner pulling a car back from going over a cliff like George Reeves as Superman in the 1950s TV show. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds weblog -- 3/31/10 Report: California’s foreign-born population has peaked -- After decades on the rise, California's foreign-born population has peaked and in some large areas -- including Los Angeles County -- has even slightly declined, with that trend expected to continue, according to a new report. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10 Rove: "The Architect" on RNC bondage bar scandal, Cal politics, Jerry Brown -- Call him "the Architect" or "Bush's Brain,'' but former presidential advisor Karl Rove had plenty to say in Lafayette today -- about the RNC's latest scandal, and California's electoral landscape this year. Carla Marinucci Chronicle Politics Weblog -- 3/31/10 Weintraub: Whitman, pre-existing conditions and the health insurance mandate -- Meg Whitman might know something about online auctions and business management. But she probably ought to brush up on her understanding of the way health insurance works. Dan Weintraub HealthyCal.org -- 3/31/10 Contestants in 43rd Assembly District file dueling campaign complaints -- Two leading Democrats in the increasingly contentious battle for a vacant Los Angeles-area Assembly seat have filed complaints against each other with the state's campaign watchdog. Jean Merl in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10
Furloughs are back - court stays judge's order -- Tens of thousands of state employees will take at least one more day off without pay Friday while a state appeals court decides whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger acted legally last year by putting the workers on furlough for three days a month. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle Jon Ortiz in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/31/10 Obama to unveil offshore drilling plans for oil, natural gas -- The proposal through 2017 will open new areas of the mid-Atlantic region, Alaska and the eastern Gulf of Mexico for production but prohibit moves off California, Oregon and Washington. Jim Tankersley in the Los Angeles Times JOHN M. BRODER in the New York Times -- 3/31/10 Federal earmarks divide California's congressional delegation -- In Elk Grove, the local congressman is not backing the city's request for $250,000 in federal money for a new teen resource center, one of the city's top local projects. Rob Hotakainen in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/31/10 Poizner's book on his year teaching high school stirs wounded pride on East San Jose campus -- A new book by Steve Poizner — a reflection on his year teaching at Mount Pleasant High School — has stirred a sharp outcry among the very students and teachers he says he "fell in love with" nearly a decade ago and still hopes to help today. Denis C. Theriault and Sharon Noguchi in the San Jose Mercury -- 3/31/10 Herdt: California's $2 million-a-year inmates -- A decade ago, while researching a story on the rising number of geriatric inmates inside California prisons, I met a murderer named Martin Lynn. Timm Herdt in the Ventura Star -- 3/31/10 Whitman donates campaign literature to libraries – but can they accept? -- Meg Whitman hasn't been elected to anything yet, but she is already extending a helping hand to underfunded public agencies. Michael Rothfeld in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10 California should seek to block healthcare plan, Whitman says -- The GOP candidate concedes that as governor, she couldn't force the attorney general to do so but says she would strongly encourage him to. Cathleen Decker in the Los Angeles Times CHRIS RIZO Legalnewsline.com -- 3/31/10 Karl Rove blasts Democrats and promotes his new book -- Karl Rove made his transformation from behind-the-scenes Republican political strategist and right hand to a U.S. president into a pundit and public speaker look as easy as falling off a log. Lisa Vorderbrueggen in the Contra Costa Times -- 3/31/10 Karl Rove says GOP must deal with scandal -- Former White House adviser Karl Rove, in a Bay Area appearance Tuesday, said the Republican National Committee's reimbursement for a nearly $2,000 expense at a Hollywood strip club raises questions about the party's management and whether the GOP has "procedures in place to spend money on elections - and not on jets and bondage clubs." Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/31/10 Morain: Senate contest tests GOP's 'big tent' -- Tom Campbell brings an impressive résumé to the race for U.S. Senate. He's a past dean of UC Berkeley's business school and a former Stanford Law School professor. He's served in Congress and in the California state Senate, and directed the California Department of Finance. Dan Morain in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/31/10 Keeping tabs on Rep. Issa's transparency caucus -- A few days ago, California Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, announced that alongside Illinois Democrat Mike Quigley, he would be forming the Congressional Transparency Caucus, designed, in their words, to examine the "sweeping changes in law, regulation and culture" that are necessary to open up the federal government to public scrutiny. Chase Davis California Watch -- 3/31/10 GOP Senate candidates tangle in Irvine -- U.S. Senate candidates Tom Campbell and Chuck DeVore took a moment in their debate Tuesday night to compare the pocket editions of the U.S. Constitution that both regularly carry with them. MARTIN WISCKOL in the Orange County Register -- 3/31/10 GOP Senate candidates appear, one way or another, on 'Hannity' -- Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore meet with Sean Hannity on his cable show. Tom Campbell, not there because of his teaching duties, buys an ad. The discussion focuses on Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10 CalBuzz: eMeg Invades Libraries; Commish Escapes Bondage -- Let’s hear another chorus of “No Motherland Without You” Not content to road block the state’s airwaves, Meg Whitman has now opened another communications channel to force feed her campaign talking points to all Californians. Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine CalBuzz -- 3/31/10 Legislative Analyst Claims Governor Circumventing the Law -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is circumventing the Legislature by seeking all providers of retail electricity get 33 percent of it from renewable sources, according to a budget review by the Legislative Analyst. Greg Lucas California's capitol weblog -- 3/31/10 CalPERS said to head a summit meeting of institutional investors -- Led by CalPERS, a group of big institutional investors held a summit meeting with several firms that invest their money Tuesday to discuss management fees and other contentious issues that have been festering for the past year. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/31/10 CalPERS trustee faces another late-filing fine -- The proposed $3,000 fine against Priya Mathur comes as the California Public Employees' Retirement System is being investigated over the activities of placement agents, middlemen who help firms secure investment deals from the pension fund. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/31/10
SFO bucks national trend again, gains passengers thanks to cheap flights -- While airports across the nation — including in Oakland and San Jose — are losing passengers by the planeful, San Francisco International is gaining business by taking advantage of cheaper flights. Mike Rosenberg in the San Jose Mercury -- 3/31/10 New poll finds strong backing for ballpark deal to bring A's to San Jose -- Signaling strong and broad support for a deal to bring the A's to San Jose, a new poll finds 62 percent of San Jose voters would be willing to give the team city-owned land downtown for a major league baseball stadium. Tracy Seipel in the San Jose Mercury -- 3/31/10 'An American success story' -- Some time over the next 48 hours, the last of 7.7 million vehicles will roll off the NUMMI assembly line, idling the last of 4,700 workers. George Avalos in the Oakland Tribune -- 3/31/10
Fensterwald: State Board cites emergency, intervenes in Salinas school district -- Meeting in emergency session by teleconference Tuesday, the State Board of Education voted unanimously to appoint an interim trustee to oversee the academically troubled, trustee-challenged Alisal Union School District. The decision was in response to reports of continued instability and intimidation in the low-income elementary district in East Salinas. John Fensterwald educatedguess.org -- 3/31/10 Jaime Escalante dies at 79; math teacher who challenged East L.A. students to 'Stand and Deliver' -- He became America's most famous teacher after a 1988 movie portrayed his success at mentoring working-class pupils at Garfield High to pass a rigorous national calculus exam. He died of cancer. Elaine Woo in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10
California's water worries aren't over yet -- The Sierra snowpack is hefty. Waterfalls are starting to thunder in Yosemite Valley. A spring storm adds to the bounty. It's time to celebrate the end of the state's three-year drought. Right? Wrong. Mark Grossi in the Fresno Bee -- 3/31/10 Green lobbying intensifies -- According to the Center's calculations, the alternative energy industry spent 12 times more money lobbying the federal government in 2009 than it did in 1998. Agustin Armendariz California Watch -- 3/31/10 Feds, state reach deal to clear out mothballed ships -- The U.S. Maritime Administration, state clean-water regulators and environmentalists have reached an agreement to settle a federal lawsuit and speed the removal of obsolete ships from Suisun Bay under a deal to be announced this morning. Thomas Peele in the Contra Costa Times -- 3/31/10 California fisher report challenged by scientists -- Wildlife experts allege that a new status report on the rare forest-dwelling Pacific fisher was altered by state officials to favor the logging industry. Matt Weiser in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/31/10
San Jose votes on plan for allowing and taxing medical marijuana dispensaries -- As San Jose confronts a fiscal crisis forcing massive service cuts such as closure of popular community centers, the City Council moved Tuesday toward allowing medical marijuana collectives as a potential new source of revenue. John Woolfolk in the San Jose Mercury -- 3/31/10 Stimulus bypasses Valley -- Plagued with high obesity rates and rising unemployment, the Valley seemed perfectly suited to get a share of federal stimulus money aimed at improving health and creating jobs. But the region was overlooked once again. E.J. Schultz in the Fresno Bee -- 3/31/10
Immigration activists denounce quota memo -- They call for the ouster of the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a top department official lamented that the pace of deportations was falling behind a goal of 400,000 annually. Clement Tan and Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times -- 3/31/10
Probe of PG&E SmartMeters to begin soon -- A long-awaited investigation into the accuracy of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s SmartMeters will finally begin, after California energy regulators on Tuesday picked a company to conduct the evaluation. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle JOHN COX in the Bakersfield Californian -- 3/31/10 State death sentences rise as U.S. total falls -- s the number of death sentences declined nationwide in 2009, death verdicts in California rose to their highest total in nearly a decade, the American Civil Liberties Union said Tuesday. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 3/31/10 With Hirings, Yahoo Steps Up Its News Coverage -- Yahoo has recruited nearly a dozen journalists from traditional and online media outlets and opened a bureau in Washington to push into original content and increase the popularity of its online news site. MIGUEL HELFT in the New York Times -- 3/31/10 Ex-prison guard admits smuggling phones, pot, gun into Folsom facility -- A California correctional officer has pleaded guilty to three felonies for bringing marijuana, cell phones and a gun into California State Prison, Sacramento. Andy Furillo in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/31/10 LA County leads much of the nation in sending people to death row -- Los Angeles County leads most of the nation in death row justice, trumping even Texas in the number of inmates sentenced to capital punishment last year, according to an ACLU report released Tuesday. Dana Bartholomew in the Long Beach Press -- 3/31/10
President Obama's new push meets Capitol Hill resistance -- The president’s push to turn health care reform into a catalyst for the rest of his agenda is getting mixed early reviews on Capitol Hill, where Democratic leaders' desire to take advantage of healthy majorities before the November elections is running face-first into lawmakers’ survival instincts. JONATHAN ALLEN Politico -- 3/31/10
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