"Esteban Armando Nuñez, the 19-year-old son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, was arrested in Sacramento County on Tuesday in connection with the stabbing death of a 22-year-old college student in San Diego, police said," reports the LAT's Tony Perry.
"San Diego Homicide Capt. Jim Collins said Nuñez was arrested along with three other men, all also
19. All four will be taken back to San Diego, where they
will be jailed. Each faces one count of murder and
three counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
"Collins said Luis Santos was stabbed to death at a party near San Diego State
on Oct. 4, during a brawl with other partygoers.
"Reached by phone Tuesday night, Fabian Nuñez declined to comment and referred calls to C. Bradley Patton, a criminal defense lawyer in Carlsbad. Patton did
not immediately return a message left at his office."
"More than 60% of Californians who were eligible to vote cast ballots
in the Nov. 4 presidential election, the highest turnout since Richard Nixon and George
McGovern competed for the office in 1972, elections officials reported Tuesday," report Patrick McGreevy and Maura Dolan for the Times.
"The total includes all qualified citizens, including
those who had not registered to vote. The percentage
of registered voters who cast ballots statewide was
80.6% -- 81.9% in Los Angeles County.
"The state's 58 counties were required to finish counting ballots
Tuesday, and the results put to rest a few close races,
showing that Tony Strickland defeated Hannah Beth Jackson
in the 19th Senate District and Tom McClintock beat Charlie
Brown in the 4th Congressional District.
"Proposition 11, the statewide redistricting measure, passed by a
narrow margin, though a few small counties were still
tallying ballots into the evening."
In other post-election news, the Bee's Aurelio Rojas writes: "In the latest sign the battle over same-sex marriage is far from over, the Legislature's gay and lesbian caucus and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg Tuesday introduced a resolution opposing Proposition 8."
"The nonbinding resolution, introduced on the second
day of the new legislative session, seeks to put the
Legislature on record as declaring the gay marriage
ban approved by voters last month was an improper revision
of the state constitution.
"Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said the resolution would restate the
now-familiar argument advanced by opponents of Proposition
8 that the measure required a two-thirds vote of the Legislature before being placed
on the ballot.
"The state Supreme Court has agreed to consider that
argument, and a ruling is expected by next June."
On the budget front, the governor appealed to Barack Obama for federal assistance through infrastructure spending yesterday. In the widely circulating photo, the governor appears as a giant over the slight Obama, even though Obama is taller.
The governor had a brief chat with the presdient-elect after his presentation in Philadelphia yesterday, explaining how federal money toward infrastructure projects could help kick-start states' economies.
And there could be a couple of Congressional openings here in California. Xavier Becerra was offered a job by Obama as U.S. Trade Representive, whie Rep. Mike Thompson is reportedly on the short list for Interior Secretary.
"California Democratic
Reps. George Miller and Anna Eshoo recently sent a
letter to the
incoming administration urging consideration for Thompson
as
President-elect Barack Obama's appointment for secretary of the
Interior, spokespeople for the two representatives
confirmed Friday.
”'Mike
Thompson is immensely qualified to be Interior secretary,' Miller said
in a statement. 'He has a strong base of support in conservation,
environmental and outdoors community. He is knowledgeable
about issues.
And he is a person of great integrity and commitment
to public
service.'
"Nearly three dozen sportsmen's groups, including
Ducks Unlimited and Wildlife Forever, also sent a letter
supporting
Thompson to President-elect Barack Obama's transition team."
Let the jockeying begin!
Dan Walters writes that the two taxes voted for last week by legislative Democrats were picked to provide political cover for those voting for the hikes.
"Although the car tax is widely unpopular – and Arnold Schwarzenegger's first act as governor five years ago was restoring
the reduction that predecessor Gray Davis had canceled
– it has three things going for it politically: It raises a lot of money, over $4 billion a year; it can be labeled a "fee" and not a tax, even though it has the same legal status
as any other property tax; and it can be argued that boosting it would merely
restore the tax to its historic level.
"The [personal income tax] bracket freeze also contains some political cover.
It could be argued that it's not a tax increase per se but merely a freeze of
a tax cut and that income-tax payers would see the adjustment benefit restored
eventually. Moreover, both the car tax and income taxes
are deductible on federal income tax returns, thus
blunting their net effect on taxpayers who itemize."
And yet, the proposal didn't exactly get very far last week...
And, the Bee's Melissa Nix reports:
"State Superintendent of Public Schools Jack O'Connell warned Tuesday that, because of increased demand,
state funding for the Free and Reduced-Price Meal program could run dry before the end of
the school year. He urged lawmakers to increase state funding for
the hot meal service by $31 million," reports Melissa Nix in the Bee.
"Schools statewide served 28 million more meals in 2007-08 than the year before, a record 770.6 million, and a 4.5 percent increase.
"Nearly 51 percent of California's public school children are enrolled in the free or
reduced-price program – some 3.1 million students.
"The program, which provides breakfast, lunch and afternoon
snacks to low-income children, is primarily funded with federal dollars; however, the state kicks in a significant portion
as well."
"An independent research report gave failing grades to every state but California on keeping college affordable -- and the problem will get worse as the full weight of recession bears down on American families, researchers at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education said in a report to be released today," reports Gale Holland in the Times.
"California's "C" grade was somewhat misleading, however, as it reflected
bargain-basement sticker prices at the state's two-year colleges. The researchers found the cost of attending
a University of California or Cal State University
campus to be relatively steep, and also said the state's high cost of living ate up much of the community
college pricing advantage.
"Only two states, New York and Tennessee, have made
it cheaper in recent years to fund higher education,
the report found. But their improvement was so slight,
they joined the other 47 states in scoring an F for affordability.
"'The one virtue of the [California] system is that the entry point is a lot lower in terms
of the community colleges,' said Will Doyle, assistant professor of higher education at Vanderbilt
University and a consultant on the report."
"The new president of the University of California system
pledged Tuesday that employees in his office no longer
will be allowed to collect full severance checks and
then be rehired at other UC locations," writes the Chron's Jim Doyle.
"While avoiding open criticism of his predecessor, Robert Dynes, President Mark Yudof noted that the program in which 16 employees got hefty severance checks and landed in
other UC jobs this year was created prior to June,
when he took the 10-campus university's top job.
"'I and the Regents recognize this may appear to the
public as an objectionable use of resources even though
the program is reducing our central administrative
spending,' Yudof said in a written statement.
"Meanwhile, new details emerged about the buyout program
as well as the hiring of Linda Morris Williams as associate chancellor of UC Berkeley, a position
that was not advertised for others to apply for. As
The Chronicle reported Thursday, Williams, then a top
aide to Dynes, was granted a $100,202 buyout from the university's Oakland headquarters and took a six-figure job on the Cal campus a few miles away."
And from our Change We Can Believe In Files, the Washington Post reports D.C. is getting ready to party.
"The D.C. Council is considering legislation today that would allow bars to serve alcohol until 5 a.m. -- three hours longer than current regulations allow -- and remain open 24 hours a day from Jan. 17 through 21 to serve crowds in town for the inauguration.
The bill, offered by council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), is up for a vote at today's legislative meeting.
"'This is absolutely a unique opportunity, and we want our night life to participate in all of the activities and events during the Inauguration,' Graham told Post reporter Hamil R. Harris today."