Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the lame-duck governor who doesn't like the term "lame-duck governor," is mounting an effort to get all the media attention he can. The LAT's Shane Goldmacher has the story.
"He's made news jousting with Sarah Palin on Twitter. He settled into the big chair on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" to brag about signing a law downgrading smoking pot to the seriousness of a traffic ticket. And he's apparently abandoned political correctness, dropping a raw if colorful reference to male anatomy into an official condolence statement on the death of a Hollywood luminary."
"Those who have tuned out Schwarzenegger in the
sunset of his administration risk missing a good show.
The governor's penchant
for shooting from the hip has always been entertaining.
Now he seems determined
to go out with a blast or two, trying to make news
with his mischief."
"Schwarzenegger has made it clear he intends to be
a presence until his very last day in office. "I don't
buy into the
lame-duck thing," he said recently."
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger isn't the only thing that's heating up: So is Lake Tahoe, the jewel of the Sierra Nevada.
From the Chronicle's David Perlman: "In a report just published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Philipp Schneider and Simon Hook of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena say the warming rate of all the major lakes observed by the satellites has averaged nearly a full degree Fahrenheit per decade. For some lakes in the Northern Hemisphere, the average increases reached nearly two degrees Fahrenheit per decade, they said.
"This is just one of several lines of evidence that global warming is really taking place," Hook said. "The evidence is striking and worldwide."
The interior of Southern California -- the Inland Empire -- may be Ground Zero in the battleground over redistricting. The Press-Enterprise's Jim Miller takes a look at the issues as an independent commission prepares to do its thing.
"That means next year's redistricting is likely to end the careers of some politicians, put others' in jeopardy, and even prompt some to pack up and move, among other possibilities. "They'll be putting their Realtors on speed dial," said Democratic consultant Kam Kuwata, who was involved in the last redistricting."
"Adding to the uncertainty are doubts about whether the commission will get the nine votes needed to adopt redrawn districts by next August, and the possibility of legal challenges. Also, the districts are scheduled to debut the same year as the state's new "top-two" primary system, in which general elections will feature the top primary finishers, regardless of party."
Ted Lieu is taking an early lead in the battle to replace the late Long Beach Democrat Jenny Oropeza in the 28th Senate District, reports the LA Times' Jean Merl.
"Termed-out Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) appears to have jumped to the advantage when two other
Democratic elected officials backed away from their
stated interest in running and promptly endorsed him.
But another contender — Hollywood producer Brian Quintana, who unsuccessfully
took on Sen.Barbara Boxer in June's Democratic primary — said he's "exploring a run."
"One Republican said to be considering a run in the
strongly Democratic 28th Senate district is Martha Flores-Gibson, who unsuccessfully challenged Assemblywoman
Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) in the Nov. 2 general election. She would need to move into the
district to run and could not be reached for comment."
And now we turn to our "Why-Did-the-Chicken-Cross-the-Street?" file to see the latest law enforcement crackdown in Stockton and to learn the answer to that eternal question -- it was to avoid the drivers.
"The sting started at 7 a.m. and lasted for several hours. Much of that time was spent near the Miracle Mile on Pacific Avenue. Christensen said the locations were chosen because they have high vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The goal is to raise awareness, he said, so heavily-trafficked locations are more appropriate than those where traffic is low, but fatal accidents have happened."
"Christensen said police had encountered some anger from ticketed drivers. A violation of the pedestrian right-of-way nets a $265 fine, he said. Jaywalking, also enforced during the mission, carries a $185 fine."
"By the end of the mission, police had issued 92 citations for failure to yield for a pedestrian in a crosswalk and eight citations for jaywalking."
Sounds like a turkey shoot....