Hollywood producer
Rob Reiner resigned Wednesday as chairman of a state commission he founded seven years ago to aid children, amid accusations that the commission used tax money to boost his new political campaign," reports the LA Times' Dan Morain.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named
Hector Ramirez to the unpaid post heading the First 5 California Children and Families Commission. Ramirez is chief operating officer of Para Los Niños, a $16-million-a-year nonprofit organization that serves poor children in Southern California, and will remain in that job."
Republican grave dancing ensued.
From Washington, Speaker
Fabian Núñez "
warned the governor" on a potential Latino voter backlash, reports the U-T's Dana Wilkie.
"The Los Angeles Democrat likened current Latino anger about a pending House-approved bill to the fury many of them felt over California's Proposition 187, the Republican-backed measure 12 years ago that would have denied public services to illegal immigrants."
The LA Times' Robert Salladay says
last week's protests have reshaped the political landscape for November.
"Until the protests, the three candidates had barely mentioned the subject. They have been sticking to far less emotional topics such as traffic and budget reform. But as the demonstrations and a statewide poll reveal, the public has something besides deficits and offramps on its mind."
Capitol Weekly's Malcolm Maclachlan takes a look at
the upcoming race for Joe Nation's Marin and Sonoma County Assembly seat.
"California's 6th Assembly District is considered so liberal that even the leading Republican touts himself as an environmentalist. Candidates in the district, which spans all of Marin County and part of Sonoma County, hold fund-raisers at mountain-biking parks and put pictures of egrets strolling marshes on their Web pages.
And yet, the current assemblyman, Democrat Joe Nation, is considered a conservative by some in the district and also is a member of the Assembly's moderate caucus, despite his efforts to tax oil companies and curb global warming."
This week marks the
triumphant return of political astrology to the pages of the Weekly. This week, Sen. Joe Dunn gets the
Political Fortune treatment. Here's a hint: Uranus conjuncts in his eighth house...
From our
Forgive and forget Files the governor has
reappointed the head of the Alliance for a Better California to the state board of education.
Joe Nuñez, was renamed to the board by the governor yesterday.
Also yesterday, Gov. Schwarzenegger spent the day meeting with women business executives in Bakersfield. The meeting was carried live on the governor's fancy-schmancy new Web site. An archived video of the meeting can be seen
here.Legislation to
increase the state's minimum wage, and automatically tie future increases to inflation, cleared Assembly and Senate committees yesterday, while the Senate rejected a measure sponsored by Gov. Schwarzenegger to increase the minimum wage without future automatic hikes.
"The Schwarzenegger-supported bill, SB 1167 by Sen.
Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, would require the Legislature and governor to consider future minimum-wage hikes on a case-by-case basis.
Schwarzenegger said Wednesday's committee actions, in which Democrats stalled the bill that lacks indexing, is 'just part of the jamming, you know, just the way it works around here.'"
Capitol Weekly's Shane Goldmacher looks at
a bill sponsored by the San Francisco 49ers "to help expedite the planning process for a new mixed-used development" at Candlestick Point.
"Since winning voter approval in 1997, the 49ers stadium-mall development has stalled as the project's price tag has continued to rise and fears have grown about the economic viability of a mall anchored to a stadium that hosts football games less than a dozen days a year."
Air America came to Sacramento's Crest Theater yesterday, and the Democrats lined up to get a listen.
"Democratic gubernatorial contender Phil Angelides turned to Harvard classmate Al Franken - author, liberal satirist and foil to conservatives - to burnish his progressive political credentials.
But as he sat down Wednesday for "The Al Franken Show" - which broadcast live from Sacramento's Crest Theatre for the Air America radio network - Angelides pitched one extra detail. 'This is where I reveal to the world where
I saw Al Franken naked," Angelides announced.'"
And so, a new campaign slogan was born.
Where the candidates areGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will attend the California Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Summit, Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles, CA 2:30 p.m
Treasurer Phil Angelides "will unveil a new proposal to attract the next generation of bright young people to the teaching profession." Sacramento State University, 10:30 a.m.
Controller Steve Westly has nothing public scheduled.