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California lawmakers hope to soften some of governor's cuts -- Democratic legislators signaled Monday that they will come up with alternatives to some of the deep cuts in social service programs proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The governor proposed a revised spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1 that closes a $16-billion budget gap. Patrick McGreevy LA Times PolitiCal$ -- 5/14/12 California budget cuts: 'All courts are going to feel the pain' -- State judicial leaders warned Monday that the proposed cuts for the California courts may jeopardize public access to the justice system. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/14/12 Gov. Jerry Brown: Cut state workers, health and welfare to solve budget -- Gov. Jerry Brown called Monday for additional spending cuts to health and welfare programs, as well as a 5 percent furlough for state workers, to help erase a budget deficit that has grown to $15.7 billion. Kevin Yamamura SacBee Capitol Alert Nicholas Riccardi LA Times PolitiCal$ Josh Richman in the San Jose Mercury Judy Lin Associated Press -- 5/14/12 California ballot measure on death penalty faces legal challenge -- The Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation petitioned the 3rd District Court of Appeals today to remove from the November ballot a proposal to abolish the death penalty in California, arguing it violates the state's "single-subject rule" for initiatives. David Siders SacBee Capitol Alert -- 5/14/12 Senate OKs bill to increase fines for cell phone use while driving -- California motorists caught violating the state's rules on using cell phones behind the wheel could face bigger fines under legislation approved by the state Senate today. Torey Van Oot SacBee Capitol Alert -- 5/14/12 Lawmakers, others react to Gov. Jerry Brown's budget revision -- The reaction to Gov. Jerry brown's budget plan is rolling in. Dan Smith SacBee Capitol Alert -- 5/14/12 NYC's Mayor Bloomberg ponies up for California anti-smoking measure -- Saying he wants to help fight tobacco company interests, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday kicked in up to $500,000 to support Proposition 29 on the June 5 California ballot. Jean Merl LA Times PolitiCal$ -- 5/14/12 Prop. 28 tackles CA Legislature term limits -- Twenty-two years after passing one of the strictest term-limit measures in the nation, Californians will consider whether to tweak a system critics say has resulted in an inexperienced Legislature that has largely ceded its power to lobbyists and other special interests. Marisa Lagos in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/12 Reforms are changing Capitol's culture -- Marc Levine, a San Rafael city councilman, had just decided to run for state Assembly District 10 (Marin, Sonoma counties) when he received a call from Speaker John Pérez. The Assembly's top dog, a fellow Democrat from Los Angeles, told Levine words to the effect: "You deserve to be in the Legislature. But it's not your time." John Diaz in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/12 Fox: CA Economic Summit Says Answers Won’t Come from Sacramento -- The first annual California Economic Summit sponsored by California Forward and the Think Long Committee saw the answers to California’s economic and political problems rising from the regions of California. At the same time, there was a strong indictment against Sacramento leadership in its efforts to improve economic and governance matters. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 5/14/12 LAPD's gun buyback collects 1,673 weapons -- Calling it a small dent in the city's war on gun violence, Los Angeles officials announced Monday that they collected 1,673 firearms in the fourth annual gun buyback over the weekend. Rick Orlov in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 5/14/12
Tough sell for tobacco taxes in California -- In the past decade, red and blue states alike, from Mississippi to New York, have approved more than 100 tobacco tax hikes in a desperate hunt for budget revenue. But not one has passed in California, whose 87-cent cigarette tax dropped from third-highest in the nation in 1999 to 33rd today despite the state's ongoing budget woes. Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/12 Skelton: Cigarette tax is a lifesaver -- Cigarette makers have a certified history of deception, distortion and lying. And let's not forget fraud and racketeering. Those aren't my words. Credit U.S. District Judge Gladys E. Kessler of Washington, D.C. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/14/12 June primary is key test for state's top-two election system -- Candidates are campaigning earlier, spending more money and trying to broaden their appeal as only those who come in first and second will advance to the November ballot. Jean Merl in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/14/12 State's swelling deficit will bring painful cuts. Where to start? -- Gov. Jerry Brown's announcement that the state's deficit has swelled to $16 billion (from a $9.2-billion estimate in January) means that a new array of budget cuts are likely. But where to cut? The item is in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/14/12 Ballot-box pension reform wins first court test -- A superior court judge this month upheld a voter-approved initiative giving lower pensions to all city of Menlo Park new hires except police, the first court ruling as unions challenge similar measures in Pacific Grove and Bakersfield. Ed Mendel Calpensions.com -- 5/14/12 Walters: Municipal bankruptcy infighting flares anew in California -- When Vallejo declared bankruptcy in 2008, one collateral consequence was a years-long political duel in the Capitol between lobbyists for local governments and those for unions representing their workers. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/12 Brown Says More Cuts Needed in California -- California Gov. Jerry Brown said the state's projected budget deficit widened to $16 billion from about $9 billion, and he warned that the state will need deeper cuts to services such as education if voters don't pass a tax-increase measure he is championing. JIM CARLTON in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/14/12 CalBuzz: CA Forward Reformers Sail Into the Perfect Storm -- The party line says California Forward is sailing steadily towards approval of its bipartisan reform agenda for repairing state government, either with a ballot initiative or through a legislative substitute that would satisfy critics on the left and right. Behind the scenes, however, the group is as broken as the system it proposes to fix. Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine CalBuzz -- 5/14/12
High-speed spending: Bullet train may need $3.5 million a day -- California would have to pay $6 billion to complete a 130-mile segment by September 2017, a plan that requires 120 permits and buying 1,100 parcels of land. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/14/12
Lincoln exemplifies tough economic times of recent years -- Close to the city of Lincoln's downtown, Fire Station 33 sits in suspended animation. A gleaming ladder truck parked inside has never seen service. Rows of lockers for firefighters' gear sit empty. Loretta Kalb and Ed Fletcher in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/12 Matier & Ross: San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee courts Golden State Warriors -- It's official - San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is openly calling on the Golden State Warriors to jump the bay and return to San Francisco "in time for the 2017 NBA season." Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/12 A 'war on women' at L.A. City Hall? -- They're targeted disproportionately by Mayor Villaraigosa's proposed layoffs, L.A. labor groups say. Kate Linthicum in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/14/12
Critics struggle to end 'pay to play' in school bonds -- Critics of the practice in which financial firms help pass school bonds that they profit from are continuing to push for reforms, but so far have faced resistance and failure. Will Evans California Watch -- 5/14/12 Schrag: Waivers for Waivers? What California Wants -- You don’t have to look far to understand why California, like many other states, wants a waiver from key provisions of NCLB, the ten-year-old federal No Child Left Behind law. If we don’t get it, it may start to cost us. Peter Schrag Cal Progress Report -- 5/14/12 May Revise likely to offer school more money despite shortfall increase -- Despite the stark news over the weekend that the state budget deficit has ballooned to $16 billion, there are strong indications that the governor’s revised May budget will actually offer schools more money than proposed in the January because of the influence of the Proposition 98 guarantee. Tom Chorneau SI&A Cabinet Report -- 5/14/12 Layoffs by seniority contested -- Administrative law judges have ruled that San Francisco Unified and Sacramento City Unified exceeded their authority to protect teachers at high priority, low-performing schools from district-wide layoffs this year. John Fensterwald educatedguess -- 5/14/12 Students at charter-run Locke do better than nearby peers -- Students at Locke High School are faring better than their peers in nearby traditional schools, but achievement overall remains low at the charter-managed campus near Watts, according to a new study. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/14/12 CSU Long Beach spends student MBA fees on professor pay -- Officials at CSU Long Beach spent nearly $200,000 on extra pay for some business school faculty, tapping student fees that were supposed to be spent on recruiting professors, getting more research published and boosting enrollment. Erica Perez California Watch -- 5/14/12 Iraqi war immigrants prods state funding waiver for to El Cajon school -- An eastern San Diego County high school with a large number of Iraqi war immigrants won a potentially precedent-setting waiver last week from meeting student performance requirements of the Quality Education Investment Act. Marc Maloney SI&A Cabinet Report -- 5/14/12 Grim news, reprieves for Sacramento area teachers -- Hundreds of pink-slipped teachers in Sacramento County are sighing a breath of relief this week as school districts revoke some of the preliminary layoff notices sent out in March. But many more are polishing up their résumés and looking for new jobs. Diana Lambert in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/12 Bay Area school districts rescinding layoff notices -- Bay Area school districts will lay off fewer teachers than expected next year -- but many schools are shrinking by attrition, and they're all maintaining backup plans for possible deep cuts next year. Sharon Noguchi in the San Jose Mercury -- 5/14/12 Pink slips loom for nearly 500 LAUSD plumbers, other skilled workers -- Nearly 500 plumbers, electricians and other skilled craftsmen will get pink slips next month from Los Angeles Unified, a cost-cutting move that officials say will make it harder to maintain the school district's aging facilities. Barbara Jones in the Torrance Daily Breeze -- 5/14/12
Patient's broken neck went unnoticed -- Report finds 'gross negligence' in a patient's care at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk. Lee Romney in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/14/12 Lawmakers: Health care districts must unleash bank accounts -- California lawmakers are moving to crack down on taxpayer-funded health care districts that have banked tens of millions of dollars at the expense of funding community-health projects. Katharine Mieszkowski California Watch -- 5/14/12 Q&A: Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on health care reform -- Since he took office early last year, state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has made health care reform his top priority. Now he's backing a ballot measure – the Insurance Rate Public Justification and Accountability Act – that would give him the power to block health insurance rate increases he deems excessive. Jennifer Garza in the Sacramento Bee -- 5/14/12 In L.A. Pregnancy 'Hot Spot,' An On-Campus Clinic -- School nurse Sherry Medrano has more than Band-Aids stored in her cabinets. She has an armory of birth control options: condoms, the pill, the patch, the ring and emergency contraception. SAUL GONZALEZ NPR -- 5/14/12 The Health Perils of Aging: Lonely and Sick -- The grim effects of smoking, drinking, and poor eating are commonly cited by doctors as appalling and expensive health scourges. Yet for aging Californians, an often hidden health plague can be just as deadly: loneliness. Matt Perry HealthyCal.org -- 5/14/12
Rural towns devise unique plan to solve water problems -- For a good part of its rich history, residents of unincorporated Allensworth, the first African American colony west of the Mississippi, have gone without a reliable supply of safe drinking water. Bernice Yeung California Watch -- 5/14/12 Santa Cruz Surfers Make Coastline A Reserve -- You may think of surfers as slackers. But in Santa Cruz, Calif., they're city council members and business owners. And they're also conservationists — who just got their piece of the central California coast named a World Surfing Reserve. KRISTA ALMANZAN NPR -- 5/14/12
Yahoo announcement of CEO Scott Thompson's resignation a victory for Third Point -- In a stunning victory for an activist hedge fund pressing for changes at Yahoo, Chief Executive Scott Thompson will leave, the company announced Sunday, and the Sunnyvale tech giant's board will be overhauled. Pete Carey in the San Jose Mercury -- 5/14/12 Firing of CEO throws Yahoo into turmoil -- Yahoo fired its second CEO in less than a year Sunday amid concerns about an exaggerated resume, throwing the company into turmoil just months into its latest turnaround effort. Casey Newton in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 5/14/12 Ex-Yahoo Chief Told Board He Has Cancer -- Before resigning as chief executive of Yahoo Inc. over the weekend, Scott Thompson disclosed to the company's board of directors and several colleagues that he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, according to people familiar with the matter. AMIR EFRATI in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/14/12 State, tech companies build alliances to combat sex trafficking -- Last year, California Attorney General Kamala Harris joined attorneys general across the country in declaring war against Backpage.com, a free classified website run by Village Voice Media. Shoshana Walter California Watch -- 5/14/12 Gavin Newsom lands talk-show gig on Current TV -- Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been complaining that there isn't much to do in his job, begins his role as a television host when the "Gavin Newsom Show" launches Friday on Current TV. Rick Orlov in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 5/14/12 13 Los Angeles police officers recognized for heroism -- At a ceremony in Hollywood, Police Chief Charlie Beck presented the officers and detectives with the LAPD's highest honors, the Medal of Valor and the Purple Heart. Esmeralda Bermudez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/14/12
Obama's Wall Street problem -- The giant $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan Chase highlights a central problem in President Barack Obama’s case for a second term: Four years after the financial crisis nearly brought the nation to its knees, very little appears to have changed. BEN WHITE Politico -- 5/14/12
Dems, GOP using popular bills to hurt other party -- Congress is producing little this election year that will become law, yet both parties are churning out bills designed to make the other side look bad. Alan Fram Associated Press -- 5/14/12 |
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