Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner -- remember him? -- has sued the obscure Office of Administrative Law for tossing out his attempt to pressure companies that do business in Iran. The L.A. Times' Marc LIfsher has the story.
"California-based insurance trade groups challenged Poizner's act, calling it an "underground regulation" that does not comply with the state's Administrative Procedure Act. Last month, the California Office of Administrative Law agreed with the insurers by invalidating Poizner's rule making."
"Poizner's suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeks to uphold his authority to call into question the appropriateness of the insurance company investments in major multinational corporations, such as Royal Dutch Shell and Siemens, whose subsidiaries operate in Iran."
A slow vote count on election night can irritate a public looking for results and reporters looking for a story. In Riverside County, it cost the registrar of voters her job, reports Duane W. Gang of the Press Enterprise.
"The county announced the dismissal in a statement after a lengthy Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday in which Dunmore faced tough questioning over why she did not more quickly release election results..."
"Dunmore had been the top election official since 2004 and before that served 14
years in county administration, the last two as a deputy
county executive
officer. But she had been under fire for months since
a slow vote count in June
led to calls for her resignation. Last week, results
also were delayed."
More student protests loom, this time over tuition hikes at the California State University, the Chronicle reports.
"California State University students say they will be out in force today to protest an expected 15.5 percent tuition increase at a CSU trustees meeting in Long Beach.
Undergraduates would pay an extra $654 a year next fall, and tuition would reach $4,884."
One thing the polls showed during this election cycle was the need surveyors to give due importance to the Latino vote.
"Fom the Ventura County Star's Timm Herdt: " As it turns out, that oversampling provided some valuable information that political strategists and analysts can use going forward — because the election of 2010 clearly established the significance of the Latino vote in California and other Western states."
"The National Election Pool Survey — an exit poll sponsored by a number of media organizations — estimated that Latinos made up 22 percent of the California electorate last week. That percentage is almost certainly overstated, in part because those who cast their ballots by mail were grossly under-represented in that exit poll, and non-Hispanic whites are much more likely to vote by mail than are Latinos."
Meanwhile, in the tight race in the 11th Congressional District, Republican challenger David Harmer has opened a new campaign fund to pay for a recount. Capitol Alert's Torey Van Oot has the story.
"The San Ramon Republican was trailing incumbent Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney by 624 votes this morning, a split that represents about a half of a percentage point of all votes tallied so far..."
"Citing what he called a "post-election no-man's land," Harmer penned an e-mail to supporters to announce that he has "established a separate recount fund within our existing campaign committee." While the fund could be used to cover the cost of a recount once results are certified next month, the cash can also be used to pay for monitoring the counting of outstanding absentee and provisional ballots."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi has sealed the deal to keep the post of House Democratic
Leader, according to Willie Brown in the Chronicle.
"I just got back from the Black Congressional Caucus confab in Las Vegas, where the skinny was that the deal for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi becoming the new minority leader was sealed during a private sit-down Wednesday with fellow Democrat Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland."
"At the meeting, Hoyer, who was seen by some of the more conservative Democrats as the most likely replacement for Pelosi, said he wouldn't challenge her.
As caucus meetings go, the gathering at Caesars Palace was on the somber side."
And finally, we turn to to our "Life Behind Bars" file to learn that all those things we've heard about Russian prisons are wrong. Forget the tortures, freezing temperatures and whips. We're talking mud baths and tanning booths.
"The head of Moscow's Butyrka remand prison, Sergei Telyatnikov, said prisoners would also have access to ultrasound equipment."
"They may also get spa facilities such as mud baths in the jail, which dates back to the 19th Century. Russia's prisons have been criticised as being overcrowded and badly managed with poor medical facilities."
"Mr Telyatnikov was quoted by the Reuters news agency as telling the Vesti FM radio station: "We are developing additional medical services... and even sunbeds will be put in place."
Nothing about conjugal visits, though, for those tanned and rested inmates...