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Controller is in no rush to implement pay cuts -- The courts may have ruled the governor can reduce state worker pay to minimum wage amid a budget impasse, but state Controller John Chiang says the pay cuts won't necessarily happen anytime soon, if at all. Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10 Despite Court Ruling, Controller Won’t Cut State Worker Pay -- Despite a July 2 ruling by a Sacramento appellate court and a written request from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, State Controller John Chiang said he would not reduce the pay of more than 314,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Greg Lucas California's capitol weblog -- 7/2/10 Don't expect budget resolution any time soon -- With the ballyhooed July 1 milepost having come and gone, expect slow going on the budget for a while. Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 7/2/10 Boren: Taxpayers are angry at lawmakers’ disregard -- Maybe you have to be a regular participant in the Sacramento political scene to make sense of the annual budget fights that drag through the summer. From 180 miles away, it sure looks like the Legislature never intends to meet its state constitutional duty of getting a budget approved on time. Jim Boren in the Fresno Bee -- 7/2/10 Appeals court affirms Schwarzenegger's order to cut state workers' pay -- A state appeals court ruled Friday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can reduce state workers' pay to the federal minimum wage when the state budget is late. Shane Goldmacher in the Los Angeles Times Jon Ortiz in the Sacramento Bee Marisa Lagos in the San Francisco Chronicle CATHY BUSSEWITZ and JUDY LIN AP -- 7/2/10 Fiorina would have voted against unemployment bill -- Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina said Thursday if she were elected, she would not support extending unemployment benefits under the terms of a bill that was defeated in the Senate. AP -- 7/2/10 Whitman goes toe-to-toe with nurses union -- Meg Whitman is trying her hand at a manner of union busting – and her degree of success will help determine whether she's elected governor in November. MARTIN WISCKOL in the Orange County Register -- 7/2/10 Jerry 'fails' ad 'fails to tell the truth,' group says -- A campaign ad for Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman that attacks Democratic nominee Jerry Brown "fails to tell the truth," according to the nonpartisan FactCheck.org. Drew Joseph Chronicle Politics Weblog -- 7/2/10 Unemployment rate dips as more workers leave labor force -- Employment-seekers decline by 652,000 June, which may reflect people giving up on job-hunting and a reluctance to hire. Overall, the jobless rate falls to 9.5% from 9.7%, the Labor Department reports. Don Lee in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10 High-tech employment still small potatoes -- High-technology may become the dominant sector of California's diverse economy someday, but today it's still relatively small potatoes in terms of employment, a new study by the Public Policy Institute of California has found, even if it's higher in California than in other states. Dan Walters SacBee Capitol Alert -- 7/2/10 Senate lifts once-monthly furloughs for new fiscal year -- The same day that thrice-monthly furloughs officially ended for other state workers this week, the Senate decided to lift its requirement that aides with salaries above $50,000 take one unpaid day off per month. Jim Sanders SacBee Capitol Alert -- 7/2/10 Schwarzenegger says 3,900 vehicles cut from state fleet -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today that more than 3,900 vehicles have been cut from the state fleet. Roughly 2,100 permits that allow state employees to take vehicles home have also been eliminated. Torey Van Oot SacBee Capitol Alert -- 7/2/10 New life for Laird gives him hope in runoff --- Democratic Senate aspirant John Laird believes the reprieve he got in last month's special election is an opening that he can exploit. Steven Harmon in the Contra Costa Times -- 7/2/10 Immigrant-rights activist Nativo Lopez jailed -- Immigrant rights activist and former Santa Ana schools trustee Nativo Lopez was jailed in Los Angeles Thursday after being indicted by the grand jury there for eight felony counts alleging voter fraud. Martin Wisckol in the Orange County Register -- 7/2/10 Fox: Business Uncertainty Over Government Action Undercuts a California Recovery -- Carnegie Mellon University economist Allan H. Meltzer's Wall Street Journal article Wednesday contains some thoughts that can be applied to California's upside down fiscal situation. Fox & Hounds weblog -- 7/2/10 Nixon official warned of global warming -- "Goodbye New York. Goodbye Washington, for that matter." These statements come from a White House memorandum about the possible effects of global warming on ocean water levels — a memo written on Sept. 17, 1969, decades before the issue came to the attention of the public. MICHAEL MELLO in the Orange County Register -- 7/2/10
A defiant Chiang accuses governor of 'political tricks' -- In a strongly worded rebuke, state Controller John Chiang said Thursday that he would defy Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s order to slash the pay of state workers until "the courts hand down a final resolution." Shane Goldmacher in the Los Angeles Times Cathy Bussewitz AP Jon Ortiz in the Sacramento Bee Wyatt Buchanan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 7/2/10 Whitman campaign counting on tech to fight Democrats boots on the ground -- The telephone rings and Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor, is greeting you by your first name. You flip on the TV, and there she is again on a new kind of interactive ad that lets you order a free Meg 2010 bumper sticker with the push of a few buttons on your remote control. Ken McLaughlin in the San Jose Mercury -- 7/1/10 Ex-Brown aide's behavior becomes campaign issue -- With supporters of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown attacking Republican Meg Whitman for a 2007 shoving incident at eBay, the state attorney general is also facing heat for his own past workplace issues. Carla Marinucci in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 7/1/10 Brown touts lead in election poll -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown said Thursday that his Republican rival Meg Whitman was "in deep, deep trouble" after a recent poll showed him maintaining a single-digit lead over her. Jack Chang in the Sacramento Bee -- 7/2/10 Brown invites rival Whitman to house for tea -- Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown has invited his Republican rival to tea at his $1.8 million house to discuss their next debate. SAMANTHA YOUNG AP -- 7/2/10 Fiorina on health reform: repeal, then replace -- Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO running against Barbara Boxer for the United States Senate, wants to repeal the health care bill enacted this year by Congress and President Obama. Daniel Weintraub HealthyCal.org -- 7/2/10 Downballot primary races cash in big from independent spenders -- The job of state superintendent for public instruction isn't the sexiest gig, nor is it the most well known. Chase Davis California Watch -- 7/2/10 CalBuzz: Fishwrap: Jerry as Mel Brooks; eMeg’s Nose Grows -- Not since the supermarket scanner flummoxed George Bush I in 1992 has a politician worked as hard as Jerry Brown to make sense of the here and now. Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine CalBuzz -- 7/2/10 Podcast: Slow Ride -- We're in no hurry on this week's edition of the Capital Notes Podcast. Which is appropriate, considering a new fiscal year has arrived and -- surprise -- there's no state budget. John Myers Capitol Notes weblog -- 7/2/10 House ethics panel clears Rep. Laura Richardson of misconduct -- Committee rules that the Long Beach Democrat didn't receive an improper benefit when a bank halted the sale of her foreclosed home. Richard Simon in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10 Recess-bound lawmakers romp over Reagan remembrance -- On their way out of town for the summer recess Thursday, the lower house sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill aimed at commemorating the centennial of former President Ronald Reagan's birth. Dan Smith and Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 7/2/10
Assembly passes bill providing overtime pay for farmworkers -- The state Assembly, in a historic vote Thursday, passed and sent to the governor a bill to give California farmworkers the same rights to overtime pay as millions of other hourly employees have. Marc Lifsher in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10 Pasadena tanning salon owners chafed by new tax -- Bonnie Messineo, 25, started tanning in a salon a week ago but is already a self-described "tanaholic." Brenda Gazzar in the San Gabriel Tribune -- 7/1/10 Investors make city of L.A. pay up in debt sale -- The city of Los Angeles struggled to borrow $1.2 billion this week via short-term notes -- a sign of investors’ unease about the city’s financial outlook. Tom Petruno in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/1/10 Economic rebound may be losing ground, data show -- Home and car sales fall. Manufacturing may be losing steam. But most experts don't see a double dip looming. Don Lee and Alejandro Lazo in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10
Charters, teachers vie to take over L.A. Unified schools -- The district is inviting bidders to run poorly performing and new campuses with 35,000 students. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10 School spending falls further behind rest of nation -- Just how far? California now ranks 44th in how much it spends on its students – or $2,546 less than the average spent in the rest of the United States. That's the lowest it has been in 40 years, in a depressing report from the California Budget Project. Louis Freedberg California Watch -- 7/2/10 Fensterwald: Three decades of underfunding education -- A new report by the California Budget Project – “Race to the Bottom? California’s Support for Schools Lags the Nation” – underscores what’s at stake in the coming battle between Gov. Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders on state education spending, a key difference in the stalemate over the state budget. John Fensterwald educatedguess.org -- 7/2/10 Declining property values mean $20 million less for local cities and schools -- San Mateo County cities, schools and special districts will receive about $20 million less in 2010-11 because property values have decreased for a second straight year, according to data released Thursday by the county assessor's office. Bonnie Eslinger in the San Jose Mercury -- 7/2/10 Morongo School is one of first fully funded, run by a tribe in U.S. -- When Maurice Lyons attended Banning public schools several decades ago, he said he and other Indian students were "invisible," victims of teachers' low expectations. DAVID OLSON in the Riverside Press -- 7/2/10
As congestion pricing kicks in, drivers hit the brakes to save a buck -- Bay Area drivers began participating Thursday in one of the biggest psychological commuter experiments the region has witnessed, as congestion pricing debuted on the Bay Bridge. Gary Richards in the San Jose Mercury -- 7/1/10 BIll to Ban Bisphenol A in Baby Products Passes the Assembly -- On the first day of the new fiscal year, the state Assembly spent 45 minutes debating a bill that would ban the use of bisphenol A in sippy cups, baby bottles, and formula containers used by infants up to the age of three. Greg Lucas California's capitol weblog Susan Carpenter in the Los Angeles Times Christina Jewett California Watch -- 7/2/10
Court temporarily blocks closing of Sacramento County's health clinics -- A Sacramento Superior Court judge ordered Sacramento County to stop its scheduled cuts to medical programs for the poor. The cuts were supposed to take effect this holiday weekend. Robert Lewis in the Sacramento Bee -- 7/1/10 Google to compensate gay and lesbian employees -- Joining a fledgling group of companies trying to address the disparity in how workplace health benefits for same-sex and heterosexual married couples are taxed, Google said Thursday it would compensate its gay and lesbian employees for the extra money they currently must pay the federal government each year. Patrick May in the San Jose Mercury -- 7/1/10 Lazarus: Avandia: When does a drug's harm outweigh its benefit? -- Risks from the diabetes drug Avandia are no surprise to regulators. David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10 Placerville hospital threatened with loss of Medicare funds -- The emergency room of a Placerville hospital from which a mentally ill woman escaped in March had problems so severe that they represented "an immediate and serious threat" to the safety of all psychiatric patients treated there, a state investigation found. Cynthia Hubert in the Sacramento Bee -- 7/2/10
Local police crack down on illegal immigration without Arizona law -- Californians of color who venture to Arizona risk exposure to racial profiling, according to an unusual travel advisory put out this week by the Golden State’s chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union. Ryan Gabrielson California Watch -- 7/2/10 Obama calls out GOP on immigration -- The president's remarks present a preview of the message the White House intends to highlight in the midterm election: Republicans' stubborn refusal to help solve national problems. Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10
Walters: Projections of bullet-train ridership take a hit -- The most important factor in the economic viability of California's bullet train project is the High-Speed Rail Authority's projection of ridership, which critics have contended is much too rosy. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 7/2/10 Ridership projections for high speed rail overly optimistic, UC Berkeley says -- The Berkeley report, commissioned by state Senate Transportation & Housing Committee officials, calls the state's statistical modeling of ridership demand flawed, throwing doubt on the economic viability of the planned initial San Francisco to Los Angeles bullet train line, as well as future planned system extensions to Sacramento and San Diego. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee -- 7/1/10 Corona woman challenges federal no-fly list -- A Corona woman is one of 10 people involved in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. government's no-fly list. LESLIE PARRILLA in the Riverside Press -- 7/2/10 Oakland Braces for Violence -- Evan Shamar, a San Francisco wedding photographer, organized the protests last year after Johannes Mehserle, a BART police officer, fatally shot Oscar Grant III, an unarmed black man, on the platform of the Fruitvale station on New Year’s Day 2009. Thousands took to the streets, and Shamar said he went home that day, shattered, when the protests turned violent. Shoshana Walter and Jack Duane Bay Citizen -- 7/2/10 Advocates prepare for peace in Oakland in advance of Mehserle verdict -- Advocates around Oakland are calling for peace even as a share of storefronts in the city disappeared behind layers of plywood in advance of a verdict in the Johannes Mehserle trial. Angela Woodall in the Oakland Tribune -- 7/2/10 Latino lawmaker won't work to block Orange County Fairgrounds sale despite Costa Mesa's immigration stance -- Assemblyman Jose Solorio says he's disappointed in the city's recent declaration that illegal immigrants are unwelcome but will support California's sale of the fairgrounds to the city. Mona Shadia in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10 In Maywood, a quiet changing of the guard -- At 12:01 a.m. Thursday, the Police Department was disbanded and its duties turned over to the sheriff; day-to-day city operations were taken over by nearby Bell. The transition went smoothly. Ruben Vives and Jeff Gottlieb in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10 L.A. losing millions in uncollected parking tickets and fines -- An audit by City Controller Wendy Greuel for fiscal year 2008-09 showed that only 53% of some $553 million in city billings was collected, resulting in a loss of $260 million annually. Patrick J. McDonnell in the Los Angeles Times -- 7/2/10 Sacramento County shuts juvenile delinquent ranch -- It's the stuff of movies: Tough inner-city kids headed in the wrong direction are shipped to a wholesome farm environment where they take classes, ride horses, listen to the quails call and learn to be men. Robert Lewis in the Sacramento Bee -- 7/2/10 Johnson has outside lawyers draft new Sacramento strong-mayor plan -- This week, charter language drafted by Sacramento attorney Liane Randolph and by McGeorge School of Law professor J. Clark Kelso arrived in council members' mailboxes. Loretta Kalb in the Sacramento Bee -- 7/2/10 |
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