The leader of the state Senate is shifting away from his recently proposed tax on carbon fuels and supporting the governor’s cap-and-trade plan.
Judy Lin reports for the Associated Press: “Steinberg was initially concerned about how Brown's budget would use cap-and-trade revenue for the bullet train. But on Monday he said funding the beleaguered transit project fits nicely with the state's effort to promote clean infrastructure.”
The top-two primary could be muzzling the general election voice of third party candidates.
Seema Mehta and Jean Merl report for the L.A. Times: “The Green Party, the American Independent Party and other minor groups will now rarely — if ever — appear on the general election ballot, even though they represent 1.2 million people. And they could eventually find themselves out of existence in California, the critics fear.”
Leland Yee discusses the dangers of political corruption in a December interview.
Norberto Santana Jr. reports for the Voice of O.C.: “Yee walked in to Voice of OC's downtown Santa Ana office alone on the night of Dec. 2 without any handlers or assistants and talked about the nexus between money and politics.”
“At one point in the interview, Yee even stepped into the mindset of a corrupt politician to talk about what motivates elected officials who turn to the dark side.”
A new Field Poll shows Californians’ skepticism of Congress.
Christopher Cadelago reports for the Sacramento Bee: “Overall, the poll showed just lukewarm support for incumbents (46 percent). In the 47 districts with incumbent candidates, Democrats are more prone to re-elect their representative (57 percent) than Republicans (33 percent) and voters who identify with the tea party (27 percent).”
The former top administrator of the City of Bell was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison.
Jeff Gotlieb reports for the L.A. Times: “For Rizzo, the sentence is likely the first of two prison terms he will be handed this week. He returns to court Wednesday, when he is expected to be sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison on corruption-related charges.”
“He was also ordered to pay $256,000 in restitution to the federal government.”
Authorities announce the take down of a Tulare County-based transnational drug-trafficking ring.
George Hostetter reports for the Fresno Bee: “Speaking at a news conference in Fresno, Harris said authorities arrested 11 people and seized 56 pounds of methamphetamine, four kilograms of cocaine, 942 marijuana plants, one vehicle and nearly $269,000 in cash during a lengthy investigation led by agents of the state Department of Justice task force in the Central Valley.”
Some California state workers may now opt in to a leave cash-out program.
Jon Ortiz reports for the Sacramento Bee: “About 62,000 of the state’s 218,000 government workforce falls into one of the four groups.”
“Departments have discretion whether to offer the program, since they have to cash out the leave credits with money pulled from existing resources. Disbursements must be made by the end of June.”
You can get your Google Glass today, for a cool $1,500.
Dan Nakaso reports for the Mercury News: “For a limited time Tuesday, regular Americans will have the chance to join a Silicon Valley elite -- the early adopters of Google Glass, the eyeglass-like computers that so far have been sold only to people hand-selected by Google.”