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Romney backer Meg Whitman fundraising…for NJ Gov. Chris Christie? -- But hold on: it’s not what you think. She’s not jumping ship. Carla Marinucci Chronicle Politics -- 9/26/11 Senate deal averts shutdown -- Senate leaders have struck a deal that would avert a Sept. 30 government shutdown and will vote on a funding agreement Monday evening that keeps the government running through Nov. 18. MANU RAJU & JAKE SHERMAN Politico -- 9/26/11 Supreme Court could rule on healthcare law early next year -- The Obama administration set the stage Monday for the Supreme Court to rule early next year on the constitutionality of the president’s healthcare law by declining to press for a full appeal in a lower court. David G. Savage in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11 Jerry Brown takes another jab at GOP in bill signing message -- Gov. Jerry Brown has again used the power of the governor's pen to take a shot at a Senate Republican over the state budget. The latest missive came in a signing message attached to Senate Bill 707, legislation by Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, to enact a 1 percent fee on the sale of olive trees. Torey Van Oot SacBee Capitol Alert -- 9/26/11 Gov. Brown set to meet in private with L.A. County supervisors -- California Gov. Jerry Brown is scheduled to meet with Los Angeles County supervisors Monday afternoon in a closed session over a controversial plan to shift care of some parolees from state workers to county probation officers. Jason Song in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11 California group vows to back candidates with 'courage' -- "Govern for California" is backed by Democrat David Crane, who worked as an advisor to former GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican investor Ron Conway, and Greg Penner, a WalMart Board of Directors member who is registered decline-to-state. Torey Van Oot SacBee Capitol Alert -- 9/26/11 Obama defends push to raise taxes on rich -- President Barack Obama on Monday defended his push to tax the rich more to help jolt the economy and rebuild it for the long term, saying the income of well-to-do people has soared while the middle has struggled with no room to spare. ERICA WERNER AP David Siders SacBee Capitol Alert David Nakamura in the Washington Post Patrick May in the San Jose Mercury Peter Nicholas in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11 Republican 'Young Guns' hit the Silicon Valley trail -- Technology. It’s not just for Democrats any more. While President Obama is busy in Silicon Valley trying to sell his jobs package and raising money during a campaign-style swing, Republicans are also trying to make their own electron tracks through the politically cloudy universe of the new technology. Michael Muskal in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11 GOP field scrambles in fall cash dash -- With the third-quarter fundraising deadline looming Friday, all eyes will be on what the two top GOP presidential contenders have raised. The big question: Can Rick Perry, after entering the race in mid-August, haul in more than Mitt Romney, who already tapped many of his top supporters in the previous quarter? JONATHAN MARTIN & MAGGIE HABERMAN Politico -- 9/26/11 Kurtz: Roger’s Reality Show -- First, Ailes dialed back the Tea Party talk. Now he’s turning the GOP race into a political X-Factor—and steering the election agenda one more time. Howard Kurtz Daily Beast -- 9/26/11 Californians Disenchanted, Poll Finds -- A just-released survey by the Public Policy Institute (PPIC) paints an interesting portrait of the political psyche of California voters in the run-up to the 2012 elections. Sherry Bebitch Jeffe NBC LA Prop Zero -- 9/26/11 Judicial temperament -- The last thing you want in a federal courtroom – any courtroom – is a testy judge. But that is precisely what federal scientists confronted in the latest legal fight over the tiny Delta smelt, which needs fresh water to thrive in its increasingly saline marshy habitat. JOHN HOWARD Cal Water Wars -- 9/26/11 Looming budget cuts threaten San Jose's expansive solar plan -- The gloomy financial forecast that has San Jose considering shuttering its branch libraries and community centers next summer could also claim another casualty: a money-making solar project at the heart of Mayor Chuck Reed's clean-energy plan. Tracy Seipel in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/26/11 Children's Art Exhibit at the Center of Middle East Controversy -- When an Oakland museum suddenly cancelled a show of Palestinian children's art, tensions flared. ADAM GROSSBERG Bay Citizen -- 9/26/11 Fox: Rainy Day Fund/Spending Limit Supported in Poll -- On Friday in this space, I reported on a poll sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Small Business Action Committee that by a 3 to 1 margin voters wanted Governor Jerry Brown to veto a last minute bill passed by the legislature to move all initiatives to November ballots as well as move the scheduled 2012 vote on a rainy day fund/spending limit to 2014. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 9/26/11 Dumb Sciences Breed Dumb Policy with the Media's Help -- The dumbing down of politics moves full speed ahead as legitimate science is thrown off the bus in favor of junk studies and reports designed to shore up ideological arguments and score political points. Douglas Jeffe Fox & Hounds -- 9/26/11 California state prisoners to resume hunger strike -- California prison inmates announced Monday that they will be resuming their hunger strike. Inmates staged a hunger strike in July to protest what they described as inhumane conditions, particularly long, punitive stays in isolation cells. Abby Sewell in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11
Democrats scramble to replace cash -- A suspected embezzlement scheme that has ensnared hundreds of campaign accounts of Democrats has sent candidates scrambling for new cash as they prepare for an election season that could reshape California's political landscape. Richard Simon and Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11 UC Berkeley student senators respond to bake sale -- UC Berkeley student senators voted Sunday to condemn discriminatory behavior on campus - even if done in satire - in response to a Republican student group's plans for an "Increase Diversity Bake Sale," with pastries labeled according to race and gender. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/26/11 Patient's death heightens tensions after strike -- Veteran nurses locked out of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland said Sunday that the death of a patient due to a medical error by a replacement worker wouldn't have happened if they had been allowed to do their jobs. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/26/11 Plastic natural gas pipe failure data kept secret -- The type of plastic pipe that caused a natural gas explosion and fire in a Cupertino condominium last month has long been considered a potential threat to the public, but federal pipeline regulators have allowed companies to keep it in the ground and secretly gather limited information about its failings, a Chronicle investigation shows. Jaxon Van Derbeken in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/26/11 CalBuzz: Jerry Brown vs “Four Horsemen of Tax Apocalypse” -- Jerry Brown says he was prepared for the crippling partisan polarization in Sacramento before he began his second tour as governor — but not for the obeisance Republicans pay on fiscal issues to the unelected “Four Horsemen of the Tax Apocalypse.” Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine CalBuzz -- 9/26/11 Gov. Brown unaware of state budget woes coming -- Gov. Jerry Brown is doing well in the polls right now, but he's got a problem in the works that could really take him down. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/26/11 Walters: California's new congressional maps spark big shuffle -- When the state's new redistricting commission released its final maps of 177 congressional, legislative and Board of Equalization districts last month, it touched off a political frenzy. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/26/11 California among few states bargaining pensions -- In pension-troubled Rhode Island the state auditor general is recommending the end of something that makes California unusual among states: allowing labor unions to bargain for pension and retiree health benefits. Ed Mendel Calpensions.com -- 9/26/11 Assembly candidate moves to take advantage of the nation's first Asian voting district -- Montebello School Board Member Edwin Chau is an early front-runner in the assembly race, picking up the endorsements of incumbent Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park, who will be termed out of office, and Rep. Judy Chu, D-El Monte. Thomas Himes in the San Gabriel Tribune -- 9/26/11 Orlov: Feuer just waiting for Trutanich decision -- Assemblyman Mike Feuer is caught in that political no man's land that many face these days. He is facing term limits in his West Los Angeles Assembly district, has ambitions for city attorney, but doesn't want to run against incumbent City Attorney Carmen Trutanich in 2013. Rick Orlov in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 9/26/11 Coliseum officials charged taxpayers thousands for fill-ups -- Ronald Lederkramer, Los Angeles Coliseum finance director, has submitted $7,600 in fuel bills since 2008. Other officials have racked up similar bills, though their jobs required only occasional car trips, typically to nearby destinations. Paul Pringle and Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11
Cost of firing 2 Oakland workers nears $1 million -- Cash-strapped Oakland has spent nearly $1 million and counting on outside lawyers to defend the city's decision to fire former City Administrator Deborah Edgerly and her top assistant, Cheryl Thompson. Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/26/11 Lopez: Working but still falling short -- The big change in Todd Little's life is this: For a long time, he was unemployed and unable to pay his bills. Now, he's employed and unable to pay his bills. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11 High-speed rail would test power grid -- If the system is ever built, it's going to take massive amounts of electricity to make those trains fly, raising questions about the power grid's ability to meet the demand. If you think your electric bill is high -- just be thankful you're not the Rail Authority. Tim Sheehan in the Fresno Bee -- 9/26/11 Postal workers plan rally Tuesday to address financial problems -- U.S. Postal Service workers will rally Tuesday at every congressional district office in the country to inform residents and businesses of the service's financial difficulties. Kristina Hernandez in the Inland Daily Bulletin -- 9/26/11 New wave of foreclosures due to hit Sacramento area -- A monster wave of new foreclosures threatens to engulf Sacramento's already battered real estate market as major banks move to slash their backlog of delinquent loans. Rick Daysog in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/26/11 Sacramento health-care giants Kaiser, Sutter need workers -- Online employment ads for nurses, computer systems analysts and retail staffers topped Sacramento's help-wanted lists, while health networks led the way in employers' job postings, according to the state's Employment Development Department. Darrell Smith in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/26/11 Federal probe of eBay may turn on its quest for rival's 'secret sauce' -- With eBay and Craigslist entrenched in a scorching legal feud last year, a Delaware judge observed that eBay's "curious" decision to partner with the San Francisco online classified ad power back in 2004 was "an opportunity to learn the 'secret sauce' of Craigslist's success." Howard Mintz in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/26/11
Fensterwald: Torlakson: Waiver to cost billions-- State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson didn’t rule out President Obama’s invitation to seek a state waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act, but he definitely sounded negative in his first public statement on the idea. John Fensterwald educatedguess -- 9/26/11 Researchers question learning-styles theory -- For years, the conventional wisdom has been that everyone has a different dominant way of learning. Some are visual learners who prefer studying pictures or graphics. Eleanor Yang Su California Watch -- 9/26/11 At Financial Aid Offices, Business is Booming -- Students descend in droves as tuition soars; schools scramble to address `uncertainties and hardship' JENNIFER GOLLAN Bay Citizen -- 9/26/11 Young superintendent making a difference in desert -- A year ago the county’s youngest and only Latina superintendent took control of the Borrego Springs Unified School District, a small and once proud educational system that had fallen upon hard times in the past decade. J. Harry Jones in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 9/26/11 Schrag: Rating California Schools: Not by Tests Alone -- It probably could have been predicted a decade ago: The way the American political system judges schools – indeed the whole center of gravity of educational accountability – is shifting again: From a rigid reliance on test-based numbers, which was the fashion of the big state and federal education laws of the George W. Bush era, the pendulum is slowly swinging back toward breadth, flexibility and moderation. Peter Schrag Cal Progress Report -- 9/26/11 Los Angeles Archdiocese hopes to raise $100 million for Catholic schools -- The initiative, headed by former L.A. mayor Richard Riordan, will ask supporters to make provisions in their trusts or wills for the Catholic Education Foundation. Carla Rivera in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11
Thousands entering Calif. schools without vaccines -- Last year's class of California kindergartners had a record high percentage of parents who used a personal belief exemption to avoid immunization requirements, a development that concerns state health officials. SHEILA V KUMAR and SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER AP -- 9/26/11 For caregivers, health, well-being and finances can suffer -- More than 6 million California adults provide care for a family member or friend with a long-term illness or disability. These informal caregivers manage bills and medications, clean and cook, and help their loved ones with tasks they can no longer do themselves – often at the expense of their own health, well-being and financial stability. Joanna Lin California Watch -- 9/26/11 Bay Area at forefront of new global health field -- Dr. Jaime Sepulveda's first lesson in global health was a tough one: As head of epidemiology in Mexico in the early 1980s, he had to tackle the AIDS epidemic that was rapidly cutting across international borders. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/26/11
Is California paying too much to preserve Mendocino forest? -- In a unanimous vote this month, the Wildlife Conservation Board agreed to pay $19 million to a large Virginia-based land trust to purchase a conservation easement on about 14,000 acres of timber land in Mendocino County. It was touted as another victory for preserving California's wildlands from development. Susanne Rust California Watch -- 9/26/11
U-visas gaining momentum -- Program gives temporary legal status to undocumented abuse victims who help police investigate crimes. Supporters want it to grow, while foes seek tighter controls. Paloma Esquivel in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11
San Diego pays $1.9 million to settle lawsuit by contractor it fired -- The city of San Diego has paid $1.9 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a computer software contractor it fired and accused of missing deadlines that put the project more than a year behind schedule and more than $15 million over budget. Kelly Thornton and Kevin Crowe in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 9/26/11 California prison realignment to put more low-level offenders on streets -- No matter how slowly the new strategy unfolds, it will ultimately put more low-level offenders on the streets sooner than they would be under the current rules, either because they are enrolled in rehabilitation programs outside the jail walls, or are serving shorter periods in jail or on post-release supervision. Tracey Kaplan in the San Jose Mercury -- 9/26/11 Here come the inmates -- county debates where scarce funding should go -- The pending shift has touched off a debate within the county over how to spend millions of dollars also coming from the state – whether to create more jail beds or fund treatment programs aimed at keeping convicts from offending again. Brad Branan in the Sacramento Bee -- 9/26/11 Homeless for Years, Older Women in Los Angeles Find a Good Home -- On Skid Row, the downtown hub of the homeless population in Los Angeles, transients ask passersby for change, slump against concrete buildings, and mumble obscenities at bus stops. The Downtown Women’s Center’s beautiful new building, sitting in the middle of the mayhem, is a standout. Jessica Portner HealthyCal.org -- 9/26/11 Stripping away a small town's plaque stories -- Somebody is stealing the bronze markers noting the historical whos and wheres of Selma, 'raisin capital of the world.' Police say the thief or thieves were probably after scrap metal; bronze is currently at $2 a pound. Diana Marcum in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11 Protesters Bare All Over a Proposed San Francisco Law -- Perhaps it should not be a surprise that San Francisco does not have a law against being naked in public, nor that a small, unselfconscious segment of the city’s residents regularly exercise that right. MALIA WOLLAN in the New York Times -- 9/26/11
Obama says GOP would 'cripple' America -- President Barack Obama charged Sunday that the GOP vision of government would "fundamentally cripple America," as he tried out his newly combative message on the liberal West Coast. ERICA WERNER AP -- 9/26/11 Lady Gaga attends fundraiser for President Obama -- At last, a crowd that went gaga for President Obama. Or make that Gaga, with a capital “G.” His popularity may be waning of late, with the economy in the doldrums, but on the last of four fundraisers events in Seattle and San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Obama was greeted by a crowd that included one of only two people in the world who has more Twitter followers than he does: pop singing sensation Lady Gaga. David Nakamura in the Washington Post -- 9/26/11 In Indiana, ripples of discontent with Obama -- The state backed him in 2008 but is unlikely to do so in 2012, analysts say, because he's lost the support of working-class voters. That dissatisfaction could hamper his broader Midwest campaign. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11 Protesters greet Obama's motorcade on the Peninsula -- Air Force One landed shortly after 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Moffett Field in Sunnvyale. From there the president was whisked to the Woodside home of Symantec chairman John Thompson, where a crowd of about 400 paid at least $2,500 a head to get in, $7,500 if they wanted a photo with the chief executive. Along the way, more than 100 conservative protesters carrying signs and chanting "one-term president!" greeted the president's motorcade at Sand Hill Road and Whiskey Hill Road. Josh Richman in the Oakland Tribune -- 9/26/11 No kidding: even President Obama has a LinkedIn profile..check it out -- Millions of Americans have profiles on LinkedIn, the Mt. View social networking site. And you can also count Barack Hussein Obama among them. Carla Marinucci Chronicle Politics -- 9/26/11
Shutdown looms: Spotlight now on Senate after Boehner wrangled House GOP votes -- With time running out, Congress returns Monday to try to pass a short-term funding measure to avert a government shutdown and avoid yet another market-rattling showdown over the federal budget. Rosalind S. Helderman and Paul Kane in the Washington Post Richard Simon in the Los Angeles Times -- 9/26/11 A Campaign Finance Ruling Turned to Labor’s Advantage -- Labor unions are seizing on last year’s landmark Supreme Court campaign finance ruling to change how they engage in politics, developing ambitious plans to influence nonunion households in the 2012 election and counter corporate money flowing into outside conservative groups. STEVEN GREENHOUSE in the New York Times -- 9/26/11 |
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