Just weels before the end of the legislative session, new legislation has emerged to legalize on-line poker.
From the Press-Enterprise's Jim Miller: "The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, which operates one of the most successful casinos in the state, crafted amendments that emerged this week to legalize online poker. It would limit licenses to card clubs and American Indian tribes that already offer gambling in the state."
"In a statement, San Manuel chairwoman Carla Rodriguez signaled that the tribe expects that its proposal will be greeted with skepticism by some tribes and other gambling interests.
“We look forward to working with all interested parties on this effort,” Rodriguez said."
"A 2006 federal law prohibits Internet gambling. Federal officials, though, have allowed states to legalize games for their residents. Three states -- Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey — have licensed online poker and the first legal game debuted earlier this year in Nevada."
The state building near 5th and N has been a maintenance problem for years and repairs have been going on virtually nonstop. Maybe it's time to dump this white elephant.
From the Bee's Jon Ortiz: "For the better part of the last decade, about 4,000 employees at the 450 N Street office tower in downtown Sacramento have been working in a virtual construction zone as the state performed an extended series of repairs."
"The 20-year-old, 24-story building has become California's state government money pit – with windows popping out and crashing to the street below and mold invading the walls – among other problems. The cost of past and planned repairs is approaching the $81 million the state paid for the structure in 2006."
"As the Assembly budget subcommittee heard the grim tale on Tuesday, Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, the Sacramento Democrat whose district includes the building, posed a question: "What's the point at which we're throwing good money after bad?"
Just who is going to cover the tab of the shutdown of the San Onofre nuclear power plant? The company that operates it says the ratepayers.
From the LAT's Michael Hiltzik: "San Onofre, of course, is that full-figured fiasco on the coast in northern San Diego County. Replacement steam generators that Edison installed at the plant in 2010 and 2011 to extend its useful life for 20 years proved to be defective, leading to a complete shutdown in January last year. For more than a year the utility claimed it could fix the generators and eventually reopen San Onofre, but it finally decided in June to mothball the plant permanently."
"Since then, Edison, its regulators at the Public Utilities Commission, and ratepayer advocates have been girding for a long battle over who should pay for the disaster. The costs at issue include not only the higher price of electricity Edison has had to buy to replace San Onofre's lost output, but the original expense of building the existing San Onofre plant in the 1980s (one older unit was built in the 1960s and shut down for old age in 1992), and the $680 million Edison paid for the defective generators."
"Edison is asking the PUC to allow it to recover about $2 billion for its capital expenditures alone through 2017, including a return on its capital investment of more than 5.5%. The PUC would have to decide how to apportion that sum between ratepayers and shareholders."
For state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, the journey through political life has been especially emotional, the aftermath of his father's tragedy.
From Capitol Weekly's Jim Cameron: "The shock and pain of that tragedy prompted state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier to leave his native state, relocate to California, build a successful business and then dedicate his life to public service, a journey he’s never regretted."
"DeSaulnier’s father, Edward, was elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature at age 27, to the State Senate at 32, and became a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge at 37. But he was accused of involvement in a stock swindle case, disbarred, and he resigned from office. Although Edward was never formally charged with a crime, he subsequently took his life -- an act that shattered his son."
"I came to California to get away from politics. I’ve been very affected by my father’s journey,” DeSaulnier told Capitol Weekly. “I was actually living with him when he was accused by Senator McClelland’s Congressional Committee of being one of two judges in the northeast with Mafia connections. So for me to be in politics? I love politics now but had planned to stay away from them. I had successful restaurants in Concord, Berkeley, San Francisco and Palo Alto, and had been on the Planning Commission in Concord. And then one day the President of the Chamber of Commerce came by my office and asked me to run for the City Council. It was quite emotional.”
State prison officials are considering fore-feeding some hunger-striking inmates, following a court order.
From the AP's Don Thompson: "California prison officials won a court order Monday saying they could force-feed dozens of inmates who have been on a hunger strike for six weeks over solitary confinement conditions."
"Dr. Steven Tharratt, director of medical services for the federal official who oversees medical care for California's prisons, said if the state employs force-feeding, it's most likely to be done by pumping nutrient-enriched fluids into the bloodstreams of unconscious inmates."
"It's not really a forced re-feeding at that point," Tharratt said. "It doesn't evoke images of Guantanamo Bay or anything like that. It's actually a totally different setting."
And from our "Physical Trainer" file comes the tale of the guy who sneaks into houses and gives people a back rub.
"Julio Yanez of Boone, N.C., was arrested Aug. 15, after he allegedly entered a woman's unsecured apartment, got in her bed and tried to give her a back rub.
According to WXII, the 29-year-old had already been arrested for similar offenses twice before."
"In a July incident, the victim told Yanez to leave, but he refused and tried to give her a back rub. The victim rebuffed him, then asked Yanez to leave again, according the Charlotte Observer. He was later arrested."
"After his July arrest, additional women came forward and claimed Yanez had entered their rooms and tried to give them back rubs in April and June."