To follow up yesterday’s speculation from Anthony York about the likelihood of a Dem-on-Dem 2016 senate race, here’s KQED’s John Myers saying, “Don’t bet on it.”
“Granted, it’s a tempting scenario. Democrats have a 15-point registration advantage over Republicans in the Golden State; Republicans haven’t won a statewide race for any office since 2006; and the rules for California’s top-two primary election now allow voters of all stripes to cast a ballot for any candidate of their choosing.
“And yet, consider the tweet this week — a heck of a bet — from one of California’s most intrepid political data crunchers, @paulmitche11:
“’If the U.S. Senate race goes D-D in the General I will streak the state Capitol. If it goes R-R I will do it twice.’”
Senator Barbara Boxer says she gave Senate Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy an earful about a proposed closed-door meeting to discuss a secret water deal. From Carolyn Lockhead at the San Francisco Chronicle:
“Her famous scrappiness was on full display during a meeting with California reporters, with the retiring Democratic senator anything but retiring when asked about McCarthy’s charge that Boxer had killed a secret water deal last fall between Central Valley House Republicans and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Boxer’s Democratic colleague. The talks collapsed after Feinstein suddenly pulled the plug, following outcries from Bay Area House Democrats….”
“McCarthy will get a water bill only ‘if he’s not afraid to sit in a room with people from Southern California and Northern California and me,” Boxer said. “He chooses not to do it, and then he says I’m to blame. People in my state don’t like secret negotiations. Let me be clear. I will not be part of it, ever. Never. Never.’”
Brittany Maynard’s mother and husband joined nine California legislators Wednesday to announce new legislation that would allow doctors to prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients. Patrick McGreevy has the story at the Los Angeles Times:
“[Three] months after Maynard’s death at age 29 drew international attention to the issue, her husband and mother stood with nine California lawmakers to announce the introduction of legislation that would allow physicians to prescribe medications to hasten death for terminally ill patients…
“’She recognized that to stay in California would mean that she potentially would face a horrific death,’ [Dan Diaz, Maynard's widower] added. ‘Brittany was a Californian. We lived in this state and she would have preferred to pass away peacefully in this state.’
“’Please help me carry out my daughter’s legacy,’ said Maynard’s mother, Debbie Ziegler, her voice choked with emotion and her eyes welling with tears. ‘Please help me assure that other terminally ill patients don’t face what we had to face.’”
Following months of negotiations in which neither party flinched, University of California President Janet Napolitano and Governor Jerry Brown have agreed to form a committee – of two – to sort out budgetary and other troubles in the system. From David Siders and Alexei Koseff at the Sacramento Bee:
“The meetings will be private, and the agenda is wide-ranging, including everything from teaching loads and compensation to pension and health benefits. Napolitano and Brown also plan to discuss online education and proposals to grant credits for work experience and to consider degrees that might require only three years of study.
“The full Board of Regents is expected to approve formation of the committee of two on Thursday.”
San Jose-based online auction giant eBay announced Wednesday that it would spin off its successful Paypal payment site and eliminate 2400 jobs – roughly 7% of its workforce. From Jeremy Owens at the San Jose Mercury News:
"’Eliminating jobs is never easy, but these decisions were necessary,’ CEO John Donahoe said in a conference call Wednesday, after outlining the challenges eBay faces without PayPal.
“The core auction site eBay runs has not recovered from the negative effects of asking all users to reset their passwords last May, Donahoe said, and has also been negatively affected by changes in search engines that have led fewer shoppers to eBay.
"’eBay's loyal customers are back, but our more occasional customers have not returned,’ Donahoe admitted.”
Well, we have to admit that this is the strangest case of “Bring your Kid to Work Day” we’ve ever seen. From Delaware Online:
“A woman robbed a Bellefonte-area convenience store at gunpoint Tuesday, while leaving her 1-year-old daughter and an acquaintance in a waiting taxi, state police said.
Amanda Paoletti, 29, of Wilmington, was arrested after police tracked down the taxi and its driver – unaware that her quick stop at a Wawa was an armed robbery – gave police the address where she was dropped off afterward, Sgt. Richard D. Bratz said….
“When troopers went to the address in the 100 block of Ashton St. where the cab dropped them... a search found Paoletti was in possession of an undisclosed amount of cocaine and drug paraphernalia, he said…
“Paoletti was committed to Baylor Women's Correctional Institution near New Castle after failing to post $8,000 secured bail.”