Former President Bill Clinton, no slouch as a campaigner, stumped California on behalf of Jerry Brown's campaign for governor.
Sharon Noguchi of the Contra Costa Times reports: "Clinton trumpeted Brown's past achievements, praised his values and lambasted those of Republicans. Clinton derided GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman's plan to repeal the capital-gains tax in California, calling it a move that would benefit only the wealthy."
"Speaking about himself and Brown, Clinton said, "We were raised to believe if you were fortunate, you were supposed to give back to your community."
The LA Times' Mark Barabak takes a look at the voters of bellwether San Benito County, who want substance in the gubernatorial campaign.
"The last several weeks of the campaign, dominated by debate over an inadvertently recorded epithet and Whitman's illegal immigrant housekeeper, have seemed especially pointless. "A sideshow," said Margo Michael, a cook. "Silly," said Jerry Caperton, a retired firefighter."
"For the last 16 years, San Benito County has been California's political bellwether, a slice of rich farmland just south of the San Francisco Bay Area with an unparalleled record of matching statewide voter sentiment. In 2002, Gray Davis won reelection with 47% of the vote; in San Benito County he received 49%. In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cruised to victory with 57% support. In San Benito County, he got 56%."
Will Democrats, particularly young Democrats, go to the polls on Nov. 2? Linda Goldston of the Mercury News reports it out.
"Anything can happen this election, but the youthful tidal wave that helped sweep Obama into the White House in 2008 may have dried up. With Barbara Boxer holding a slight lead over former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, there's a chance California may not get socked by anti-incumbent fever as badly as other states, but there's no question -- many Democrats are struggling to find a reason to vote."
"What I'm noticing is that we don't have a candidate on the top of the ticket that's generating a lot of excitement in the electorate," said Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California. "And we don't have a ballot measure attracting the excitement Proposition 8 did last time around, so turnout will be significantly less that we had in the presidential election."
One candidate in a local water board election in Riverside is something of a
mystery: Just who is Jeff Hall? The Press-Enterprise's Alicia Robinson takes a look.
"As leader of the California chapter of the National Socialist Movement, Hall has helped organize several rallies in Riverside, including one to protest illegal immigration at a gathering site for day laborers and another in which movement members displayed swastika flags outside a synagogue."
"Hall, the candidate, gave the county registrar of voters an e-mail address identical to one that Hall, the National Socialist leader, uses at NewSaxon.org, a neo-Nazi website.
Stepping off the campaign trail for moment, we see air-pollution control officials in the Central Valley considering a new strategy: charging motorists for pollution, reports Felicity Barringer of the NY Times.
"Faced with a fine of at least $29 million for exceeding federal ozone limits, the San Joaquin Valley’s air quality regulators are proposing an annual surcharge of $10 to $24 on registration fees for the region’s 2.7 million cars and trucks beginning next year. A decision is expected when the governing board meets on Thursday."
"Although the surcharge is not expected to change how much people drive or what cars or trucks they buy, air pollution experts say it is a harbinger of the future. After decades of forcing industry to clean its smokestacks, retool car and truck engines and fine-tune gasoline, regulators are exploring what they can do to force consumers to face up to the pollution they cause."
Those regulators aren't the only officials looking for new revenue. Across the state, cities are getting creative in the search for dough, reports the LAT's Alana Semuels.
"In Central California's San Benito County, whose 14.8% unemployment rate is one of the highest in the state, officials recently opted to allow more garbage from outside the county to enter a public landfill. Importing trash isn't the sexiest of economic development strategies, but the projected half-million dollars a year of extra revenue will help keep libraries open, Benito County Supervisor Anthony Botelho said. "It's not a cure-all for our budget woes, but it does help," he said.
"Closer to Los Angeles, officials in Whittier are considering allowing oil companies to drill on land set aside for a park. Some residents are apoplectic. But Whittier's sales tax revenue has tumbled 25% since its peak in 2007-08, City Controller Rod Hill said. Much of that decline can be attributed to the closure of seven car dealerships, which won't be easy to replace."
And as the sun rises slowly in the east, we turn to our "It's About Time" file for positive vibes -- and we actually find them. Consider the tale of 95-year-old George Vujnovich, who was honored 66 years after rescuing 500 American airmen during World War II.
"The 95-year-old New York City man was awarded the Bronze Star in a ceremony Sunday at Manhattan's St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral. He received a standing ovation from a crowd of several hundred."
"Better now than never," says Vujnovich, a retired salesman who lives in Queens."
"He was an officer of the OSS — the precursor of today's CIA — in Italy when about 500 pilots and other airmen were downed over Serbia in the summer of 1944 while on bombing runs targeting Hitler's oil fields in Romania, according to U.S. goverment field station files, stored in the National Archives."
Bravo, George...