"Hoping to fend off possible conflicts of interest, California's top global warming regulator said Tuesday she
has sold her stock holdings in a broad range of oil, chemical and coal companies," reports Paul Rogers in the Merc News.
"
Mary Nichols, appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board in July, cashed out of 24 stocks, liquidating about one-third of a portfolio controlled by her and her husband.
"'I've done my best to comply with the letter and the spirit of the California Fair Political Practices Act,' Nichols said Tuesday. 'It's my goal to operate in a manner that was ethical.'
"State law requires public officials to declare personal investments and sell positions in any companies they might directly regulate, or disqualify themselves from taking actions affecting those companies. Because the air board issues dozens of regulations a year on everything from smog to global warming, Nichols could have been forced to bow out of numerous decisions had she not sold her holdings."
Nichols' boss, meanwhile, continues his international relations week with a
meeting of the border governors in Mexico.
"Border governors are set to meet this week in Rocky Point, Mexico, to discuss various issues including
immigration reform, drug smuggling and truck inspections.
"Arizona Governor
Janet Napolitano and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be representing border states during the two day meeting.
"Also expected to participate in the talks tomorrow and Friday are Mexico's President
Felipe Calderon, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff and
Carlos Slim, said to be the world's richest man.
"A year after federal health authorities
recommended HIV testing as part of routine medical care, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering signing legislation that would implement that policy in California," reports Aurelio Rojas in the Bee.
"Assembly Bill 682 by Assemblywoman
Patty Berg, D-Eureka, cleared the Legislature with nearly unanimous bipartisan support.
"'My bill makes HIV screening a routine part of your medical exam, just like screening for cholesterol and diabetes,' Berg said Tuesday during a conference call with reporters.
"Currently, patients must provide written consent to have their blood tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
"Under AB 682, patients 13 to 64 would have such tests done routinely by doctors unless they or their caretaker declines the procedure. The bill is backed by the 35,000-physician California Medical Association."
And while the governor and Democratic leaders push to expand health coverage in Califorina,
the White House is ready to restrict the Healthy Families program. The Chron's Zach Coile reports, "The House on Tuesday approved an expansion of a health insurance program that would cover 10 million poor children at a cost of $35 billion, but
fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto threatened by President Bush.
"The vote was closely watched by the states, including California. The program, a federal-state partnership that now provides insurance for an estimated 6.6 million children, expires next week.
If the program isn't extended, millions of children could - at least temporarily - lose their health insurance."
"Tens of thousands of state-issued lunchboxes promoting healthy eating
would have carried warnings about toxic lead on the vinyl surfaces but for the state's supplier intervening, according to a company e-mail obtained by The Bee," writes Chris Bowman in the Bee.
"Had the coolers been so labeled, state health officials said they would have rejected the shipments from supplier You Name It Promotions Inc. of Oakland.
"'There would be no way that any product that might require that notice would be acceptable for us to distribute,' said Dr.
Mark Horton, the state's public health director.
"As it turned out, some of the giveaway bags tested positive for high levels of lead, which can be absorbed by food and accumulate in the bloodstream. Lead can impair mental and physical development, especially in children."
Dan Walters
wonders if the governor wants to reopen the workers comp debate by signing a bill supported by both business and labor.
"The annual political confrontation over workers' compensation, however, did produce one bill that -- almost miraculously -- drew support from both sides. A bill by Assemblyman
Joseph Coto, D-San Jose, in its final form, closely resembled a measure by Assemblyman
John Benoit, R-Riverside, that the Democrats had killed. The Coto bill (Assembly Bill 338) extends the eligibility window for temporary disability benefits from two years to four years, while maintaining the current cap of 104 weeks of payments.
"Both business and the labor-attorney coalition want Schwarzenegger to sign it, but it's uncertain whether he would even slightly reopen what has been for three-plus years a closed book on workers' compensation eligibility rule."
"San Francisco Mayor
Gavin Newsom suspended Ed Jew from his seat on the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday and appointed a political novice in his place, launching city government head-on into complex and unprecedented official misconduct proceedings that could force the embattled lawmaker out of office permanently," reports Cecilia Vega in the Chron.
"Newsom filed misconduct charges against Jew that, under city law, resulted in the supervisor's automatic suspension and allowed the mayor to swear in
Carmen Chu, a 29-year-old deputy director in his office of policy and finance who moved to San Francisco three years ago and has never even considered running for a seat on the board."
Isn't 29 a little old for the average woman in Newsom's life?
"Just hours after Jew was served with a seven-page outline of the charges as he worked in his Chinatown flower shop, his name had been scraped off his City Hall office door, the locks had been changed, his photo had been removed from the city's Web site, and his legislative aide had been escorted out of City Hall by sheriff's deputies."
While our good friend Evan Halper at the LA Times waits for impending fatherhood, Kevin Roderick at La Observed has some advice:
keep the birth certificate close by for your corporate masters.
The LA Times' parent company "
has come up with a new tactic to cut costs and annoy the hell out of its employees -- again. It seems that everyone on the staff at the L.A. Times (and so I assume KTLA)
has to prove that their spouses and children really are theirs, and thus eligible for medical benefits. Though wasteful and mildly insulting it sounds easy enough, but apparently it's not.
They call it a "Mercer Audit" and its demands have some staffers in an uproar. Some email exchanges follow, starting with a memo from editorial hiring and development director Susan Denley trying to calm people down."