A judge has blocked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to implement furloughs until the state budget is passed.
Shane Goldmacher reports, "Roughly 150,000 state workers could avoid unpaid furlough
days set to begin Friday after an Alameda County Superior
Court judge
issued a temporary restraining order on Monday blocking
Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger from forcing the mandatory time off.
"Schwarzenegger ordered the furloughs in late July,
four weeks after the
fiscal year began with no state budget in place. The
governor said the
move was necessary to conserve cash, at least until
state legislators
approve a spending plan.
"The governor's office said it would immediately appeal
Monday's ruling."
Lawmakers voted Monday night to move the water bond off the 2010 ballot.
"
Worried that Californians struggling through the economic
slump will reject an $11-billion water bond measure this year, state
lawmakers acted Monday to pull the initiative from
the November ballot
and put it off until the 2012 election.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger requested the postponement
of Proposition 18,
and he will sign the bill approved late Monday by
the state Senate and
Assembly, a spokesman said.
Some backers of the water plan opposed the delay, saying
the need to fix
the state's water system is immediate.
"There are some parts of this bond, for all its controversy,
that are
very important and that we need to get on with very
quickly," said
Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), who heads the Assembly
Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife.
Rep. Maxine Waters is accused of three ethics violations for allegedly helping a bank with ties to her husband, Richard Simon reports.
As Rep. Maxine Waters was warned against interceding on behalf of a bank with ties to her husband, her chief of staff, who is also her grandson, was "actively involved" in working to help the institution, according to a House Ethics Committee report released Monday that accuses the longtime Los Angeles political figure of three ethics violations.
"Waters was accused of violating three rules — one that requires its members to "behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House," a second that prohibits lawmakers from using their influence for personal benefit and a third forbidding the dispensing of favors.
"The Democratic congresswoman has vowed to fight the charges in a trial before fellow House members, contending that her efforts were in keeping with her longtime work to promote opportunity for minority-owned businesses and lending in underserved communities such as her South Los Angeles district."
A group of progressive economists say Meg Whitman's economic policy proposals would make the state's economic troubles worse.
"Meg Whitman's economic policies are based on a flawed understanding of the challenges California faces, and the Republican gubernatorial nominee's proposals would make the state's troubles worse, according to an open letter to Californians signed by a group of mostly Democratic economists from throughout the state.
"The evidence and theory that Whitman uses to diagnose California's problems are unscientific and an unsound basis for policy," the economists write. "As a result, her diagnosis and her proposed economic policies are both deeply flawed. If implemented, her policy proposals will deepen California's budget crisis and are likely to reduce employment and economic growth."
"The letter and an 18-page report detailing their findings will be released Tuesday by the advocacy arm of the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning nonprofit think tank in Washington. The professors who signed the letter are well regarded in their fields and include Kenneth Arrow, a Stanford University economist and Nobel laureate.
How long before a conservative think tank comes out lauding Whitman's proposals?
Meanwhile, Meg Whitman Monday accused Jerry Brown of Bell-style mismanagement while he was mayor of Oakland.
Michael Mishak reports, "Republican gubernatorial nominee
Meg Whitman on Monday accused
Democratic rival Jerry Brown of presiding over a Bell-style salary
scandal while he was mayor of Oakland.
"The charges, aired in a new mailer and radio ad aimed
at Los Angeles
County voters, come as Brown, the attorney general,
gains political
traction with his office's expanded investigation into
the Bell
controversy. Three of that city's top administrators
have resigned.
"At a news conference Monday, Brown announced that
his office was
serving a second set of subpoenas on nine current and
former Bell
officials to compel them to give depositions. Separately,
he called for a
complete review of how local governments determine
public employees'
salaries.
"Brown said the case "highlights the danger of secrecy
and lack of
accountability and calls into question the adequacy
of our protections
and standards."
And finally, from our Fly the Friendly Skies Files, "A flight attendant ran out of patience on a plane that just landed at JFK on Monday afternoon, so he allegedly cursed a blue streak over the p.a. system, grabbed some beers, pulled the emergency chute, slid down and ran from the plane, sources said.
The argument began when one of the 100 passengers on the flight, got up early to get her luggage from an overhead compartment, according to sources. Slater told the passenger to sit back down -- but, as he approached, the woman continued to pull her belongings down and struck him in the head with her bag, authorities said.
"Slater asked for an apology but the woman cursed him out, saying in effect "go f--k yourself" and calling him a "mo-fo," according to law enforcement sources who are still sorting out the specifics. Then Slater got on the flight's announcement system and allegedly cursed out everyone on the plane -- especially the person who mouthed off to him, according to law enforcement sources.
"When his tirade was through, he then took a some beers from the galley and pulled the emergency chute and slid off the Embraer 190 plane. According to police sources, he threw his luggage down first and said something to the effect of "there goes 28 years," before he took the plunge.
"Slater was later arrested at his home in Belle Harbor by Port Authority officials. Police sources said that when authorities found Slater he seemed to be in the midst having sexual relations."
So much for a happy ending...