"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday
told American automobile companies to 'get off your butt' to promote cleaner technologies and said international trade sanctions may be needed to protect the global environment.
"Declaring that California "is sending the world a message" in leading the fight on global warming, Schwarzenegger made his remarks as the featured speaker for a Global Environmental Leadership Conference at Georgetown University. He is getting national attention -- appearing on the cover of Newsweek magazine this week -- for California's efforts to roll back greenhouse gases by 25 percent by 2020.
"'In California, we are doing everything we can to tip the balance in favor of the environment,' Schwarzenegger said in his remarks. '
California is big. California is powerful, and what we do in California has an impact. We are sending the world a message.'"
"In the state where
Al Gore picked up his Oscar and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger became an action figure fighting greenhouse gases, Californians
overwhelming believe global warming is a serious problem, according to a
Field Poll released Wednesday.
"Eight in 10 California voters in the poll expressed concerns about global warming blamed for climate change. Some 56 percent said the problem is 'very serious' and 25 percent said it is 'somewhat serious.'
"Only one in six voters in the poll (17 percent) said they didn't believe global warming is a problem."
"Saying the healthcare debate here was not sufficiently focused on curbing insurers' profits, some lawmakers and consumer groups are
backing a new effort to regulate medical insurance rates the same way the state controls auto coverage costs," reports Jordan Rau in the Times.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed that insurers be required to spend at least 85% of premiums on actual medical care, as HMOs in California now must do. But a new proposal by Assemblyman
Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) would go further by requiring insurers to obtain state approval for annual premium increases above 7%.
"'I introduced this measure to make sure affordability is injected into the debate,' Jones said at a new conference Wednesday.
"Healthcare premiums have grown at four times the rate of wages and inflation this decade, and many advocates complain the free market has failed to rein in profits taken by private insurers."
"One of two personal friends Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed to the state Board of Chiropractic Examiners last year had received a cease-and-desist letter in 2004 from the board
ordering him to stop advertising a doctorate from an unaccredited correspondence school.
"The board closed former bodybuilder
Franco Columbu's case in 2004 after he was "educated," said Brian Stiger, the board's interim executive director. But Columbu still advertises on his personal Web site that he has a 'Ph.D. in nutrition' as part of a sales pitch for a $200 personalized nutrition and training program. Stiger said he would investigate.
"Columbu, who trained with Schwarzenegger and was best man at his wedding, is one of four board members facing legislative scrutiny after they admitted running afoul of open-meeting laws and declared they wanted the board to better serve chiropractic interests. Board Chairman
Richard Tyler, also a former friend of Schwarzenegger from his bodybuilding days, apologized at a recent legislative hearing for the panel's actions."
Capitol Weekly reports on a new bill by
Julia Brownley that may have been
inspired, in part, by Mel Gibson.
Mel Gibson's drunken tirade in a Malibu sheriff's substation has inspired more than a wave of unwanted publicity for the Lethal Weapon star. It has sparked a new bill by a Santa Monica Democrat that could lead to jail time for cops who sell celebrity information to the press.
The bill, AB 920, by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, is sponsored by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, which patrols celebrity-rich parts of Los Angeles County, including Malibu and West Hollywood. The measure would make it a misdemeanor for court or police officers to sell any information to the press before it is released through traditional channels. It would also make it a crime for media outlets to solicit the information. Brownley says the Gibson fracas helped underscore the need for the bill.
"In the case of Mel Gibson's alleged drunk-driving arrest on Pacific Coast Highway, the police report and his mug shots were on the Internet that night."
In the Gibson case, the sheriffs' office originally said Gibson was arrested without incident. But the Web site TMZ.com later reported on Gibson's belligerent behavior and alleged anti-Semitic comments.
CW's Malcolm Maclachlan parses the new tribal gaming compacts, and finds three of them may
clear the way for a new form of tribal justice.
If a trio of gaming compacts before the Legislature this year become law, casinos patrons eventually could find themselves in an unfamiliar place: tribal court.
This has some people worried that tribal courts could expand their power over time, taking on new areas of law. Tribal representatives counter that the new rules strengthen legal protections for casino customers, and the "tribal courts" described in the compacts are years away.
At issue is language in the amended compacts for the Agua Caliente, Pechanga and San Manuel tribes. Each compact contains a section heading, "Patron disputes," that outlines new procedures for arbitrating disputes between casinos and patrons.
The last paragraph in this section in each of these threes compacts outlines how the tribes may establish "a tribal court system" that would have jurisdiction over outsiders who have disputes with the tribe. In each case, such a system would only come after negotiations between the state and the tribe. Three other pending compacts--for the Morongo, Sycuan and Yurok tribes--contain most of the same clauses of the "patron disputes" sections, but not the provisions for creating tribal courts.
And Maclachlan reports on a bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl to
extend restraining orders to pets.
The bill is the brainchild Sarah Speed, a 23-year-old law student at UC San Diego. Last year, Speed hooked up with some undergrads, at nearby San Diego State, who were looking at a similar concept. They took their idea to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"Often, the animal is used to keep the person there," said
Jill Buckley, an attorney and lobbyist for the ASPCA in the Western region. "The abuser will say '
if you leave, I'll kill your cat.'"
"If and when milk and meat from cloned livestock start showing up in your local grocery store,
labels on the food would let you know if it came from a cloned animal or its progeny under a bill that moved forward in the state Legislature on Wednesday," writes Matthew Yi in the Chronicle.
"The bill by Sen.
Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, was prompted by the Food and Drug Administration's recent preliminary conclusion that cloned cows, swine and goats are safe to eat.
"Although the FDA will continue gathering public comment until May 3, the agency is expected to adopt the preliminary decision as final.
"Migden said that regardless of whether one supports or opposes eating cloned animals, it is prudent public policy to at least let consumers know what's on their grocery store shelves.
"'It's a consumers' right to know measure,' she said."
George Skelton writes that to truly give California presidential election influence,
the governor should come out against the electoral college. "The governor of Maryland did Tuesday what the governor of California should have done last fall: sign a bill making his state the first to begin junking the electoral college.
"At least, chuck the electoral college as it has evolved. Circumvent the relic, render it moot and elect America's president by popular vote.
"That's the sure way to make California really relevant in presidential elections, to elevate it to being a participant rather than just a spectator. Force candidates to campaign here, not only during an early primary, but also in the general election."
"
Trung Nguyen will get a proverbial second day in court as the
California Court of Appeals on Wednesday agreed to hear his appeal of a lower court's ruling that placed
Janet Nguyen on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
"With no comment, the court ordered both sides to provide more information. Janet Nguyen must file a response in seven days and Trung Nguyen must respond by May 2.
"'We are very pleased that the Court of Appeals has decided to take a look at this,' said
Michael Schroeder, Trung Nguyen's attorney. 'Most writs are denied and we're hopeful for a positive outcome.'
"Janet Nguyen's attorney, Phil Greer, said he would comply with the court's order but doesn't believe it will overturn the March 26 decision by Superior Court Judge
Michael Brenner.
"'It's a last, desperate grasp to try to salvage an unwinnable case,' Greer said of the appeal. 'Judge Brenner did a magnificent job. He understood the law.'"
And finally, from our Self-Loathing Schizophrenic Files, we bring you the story of a sheriff's deputy who
wrote himself a ticket.
"Kocken issued himself a ticket March 27 for an unsafe lane change, three weeks after he had rear-ended a suspected speeder after that driver slowed to turn. Neither the deputy who completed the accident report nor the Brown County district attorney's office felt that Kocken deserved a citation.
"But it kept bothering me," said Kocken. "Finally I decided to write myself a ticket. I felt it was the right thing to do."
The ticket carries a $160.80 fine that Kocken said he fully intends to pay."