We begin today with a little good news from Washington. The nation's unemployment rate fell slightly last month , reports the LAT's Jim Puzzanghera.
"The U.S. unemployment rate dropped slightly to 9.4% in July, another indication that the deep recession
is easing.
The rate went down from 9.5% in June -- the first decrease since early
2008 -- despite the loss of 247,000 jobs nationwide as even more people
stopped looking for work, the Labor Department reported
today.
Although the job loss is continuing, and forecast to
continue into next
year, the pace has slowed considerably. The economy
lost 467,000 jobs
in June and averaged 645,000 jobs lost a month from November through
April. The unemployment rate has essentially remained
flat for two
months, although economists noted it still is likely
to rise before
reversing course for good."
Kevin Yamamura reports the governor is raising big bucks for a big environmental photo op , er, we mean, important climate change meeting.
"A top California Chamber of Commerce official is soliciting six-figure donations to help Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger host a climate change summit in Los Angeles, offering contributors private access to the governor and "first-paragraph mention in official event press release," according to donor materials.
"Schwarzenegger will host the Governors' Global Climate Summit 2 from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 to give leaders of states and other "subnational" governments a platform to discuss clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Organizers have billed the event as a precursor to a major U.N. Climate Change conference scheduled for December in Copenhagen, Denmark.
"To pay for the Los Angeles conference, Schwarzenegger is relying on the California State Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit group with ties to the California Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders who opposed 2006 legislation mandating a reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020.
"Climate summit donors can become a "Blue Sky Sponsor" for $250,000 or a "Clean Air Sponsor" for $100,000. Both levels offer access to a "VIP Reception" with Schwarzenegger, a photo op with Schwarzenegger and mentions in the official press release, along with prominent placement on event materials. Five other opportunities with price tags between $100,000 and $250,000 offer similar benefits.
" Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown has denounced a court order to release more than one out of every four state prisoners in California as counterproductive interference by judicial activists, and said state officials were still deliberating Wednesday whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court," the LAT's Carol Williams reports.
"While acknowledging that Tuesday's ruling by a three-judge federal
panel aims to resolve the same problems with severe
prison overcrowding
that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to, Brown said
the court's latest
edict on how to improve the corrections system has
only contributed to
the "Kafka-esque nightmare" confronting the cash-strapped state.
"There are too many cooks in the kitchen here," Brown said of the court
orders governing prison management. "There's no limit to what the
courts want the state to spend on its prisoners."
Carla Marinucci writes about Jerry Brown as superhero. Just don't call him a candidate for governor -- yet...
"It's a bird, it's a plane, it's that environment-protecting, drug-seizing, rip-off-artist-fighting, loan-shark-nailing state attorney general Jerry Brown -- the Democrat who's not (officially) running for California governor.
"Sure, you can take him at his word that he's only interested right now in the AG's spot in 2010 -- but take a look at his busy press release factory these days.
"The recent official releases from Brown's office tout his skills and paint a picture of a top cop racing around the state doing the people's business on all kinds of matters.
"No news flash that top state officials love use the office PR machine for pumping up their political resumes. (Hello, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who put out one today annoucing his "distribution of more than $67 million in federal stimulus money to jumpstart 14 affordable housing projects.")"
Carla even takes a swipe at Garry South's salary.
"But Brown's approach recently reflects particular efficiency: why hire a political consultant at $20,000 a month (hello, Gavin Newsom), when you can remind voters (and not on your dime)"
OK, we give up. Why?
Speaking of political opportunities, lawsuits dominate the talk of this week's podcast with John Myers and Anthony York.
Nanette Asimov reports UC execs seem to be recession-proof.
"At UCSF, the three employees in question are getting yearly stipends - periodic payments above their salaries that are meant to compensate them for additional duties.
UCSF's chief financial officer, now the interim chief operating officer, is getting a yearly 6.5 percent stipend, boosting his salary this year to $500,763.
Patrick McGreevy reports you can join your fantasy football league at work and worry about getting arrested.
"Three years after Margaret Hamblin was busted for running
a $50 betting
pool on football at the Elks Lodge, the 76-year-old grandmother
believes she got some justice Thursday when Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
signed a law reducing the penalty for participating
in such office
betting contests.
The betting pool measure was one of 128 bills the governor signed
Thursday as he cleared his desk of legislation that
had been delayed as
lawmakers grappled with the state's budget problems."
And finally, from our Don't You Forget About Me Files, "John Hughes , Hollywood's youth impresario of the 1980s and '90s who captured the teen and preteen market with such favorites as "The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Home Alone, died Thursday, a spokeswoman said. He was 59 ,"AP's Hillel Itale reports.
"Hughes' ensemble comedies helped make stars out of Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and many other young performers. He also scripted the phenomenally popular "Home Alone," which made little-known Macaulay Culkin a sensation as the 8-year-old accidentally abandoned by his vacationing family, and wrote or directed such hits as "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Pretty in Pink," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck."