The story that keeps on giving -- whether to put an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles -- keeps on giving in the final week of this year's legislative session, as backers of the huge project are reminded of a simple fact: This is a tough sell.
From Patrick McGreevy and Nichols Riccardi in the LA Times: "As Anschutz Entertainment Group and its myriad backers roam the halls of the state Capitol crafting a last-minute bill to help pave the way for a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, they face what is a perennial problem in Sacramento: Nobody likes L.A.
"Not legislators from Northern California, many of whom are dyed-in-the-Gore-Tex environmentalists whose constituents will probably never attend a football game in the metropolis to the south."
"And not the lawmakers from more neighborly San Diego County, who worry that an L.A. football stadium would allow the City of Angels to poach their Chargers."
"Most of the L.A. political delegation and power structure is behind AEG's proposal to require an expedited process for any legal challenges to its $1.2-billion stadium. But it is how the Angelenos will woo the rest of the state that will make a difference."
Talk about stories that keep on giving: A day after federal investigators smacked PG&E for its failures in the San Bruno gas explosion, a blast blew off the garage door of a Cupertino home and several gtas pipes were found leaking. Enough is enough.
From Mike Rosenberg in the Mercury News: "Pacific Gas & Electric crews found seven leaks in the 2-inch pipes that distribute gas to homes in the area near the explosion. But investigators are still unsure exactly what caused Wednesday's blast."
"PG&E has more than 42,000 miles of the distribution pipes running beneath properties in the Bay Area and beyond -- and a similar explosion killed a man inside his Sacramento-area home three years ago."
"The resident of the Cupertino townhome near the Homestead Square Shopping Center had left the home 15 minutes before the explosion, which badly damaged the residence. No injuries were reported, and firefighters said they saved a pet dog hiding under a bed inside."
Goodwin Liu, who Gov. Brown swore in as his new state Supreme Court justice, got the California job just weeks after he was rejected for a federal appeals court position in the U.S. Senate amid GOP-led opposition that included complains from 42 of California's 58 district attorneys that Liu opposed the death penalty. But when Liu was being considered for the state Supreme Court, only one prosecutor testified. So where were the DAs?
From the Chronicle's Bob Egelko: "They probably decided Liu's confirmation was a foregone conclusion and didn't want to risk antagonizing the court's newest justice, said Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento. The conservative foundation was involved in last year's letter from the prosecutors opposing Liu, and wrote an analysis of Liu's writings that was cited in the letter."
"I can't speak for all the DA's," Rushford said, but "we (the foundation) didn't go in because it was a waste of time." By testifying against a judicial candidate who's certain to be confirmed, he said, "you're kicking him on the way in the door, and he might remember it."
"Asked if there was any evidence that Liu -- described by his friends as even-tempered and open-minded -- would try to get even with any future litigators who had opposed his nomination, Rushford said, "Anybody that believes the courts aren't political is seriously deluded. Justices bring their (personal) stuff in, even the best of them."
Amazon.com Inc.'s offer to hire up to 7,000 workers and build a couple of distribution centers in California if the state delays forcing the company to collect sales taxes until 2014 is getting tepid response at best from Gov. Brown and legislative leaders. From the LA Times' Marc Lifsher and Anthony York.
"Brown on Thursday did not dismiss the Amazon bid out of hand. But, he stressed that he's mostly concerned about losing an estimated $300 million in badly needed state revenues that his budget expected to get once Amazon complies with a new law that took effect on July 1."
"I'm concerned about anything that would reduce revenues going forward because we're in a very uncertain economy," the governor said after attending an awards ceremony for correctional officers in Sacramento. "We need more revenues unless we're going to keep curbing schools, courts, corrections."
"Amazon, so far, has refused to collect the tax on purchases made by California customers. Instead, it's contributed more than $5 million to a referendum campaign to repeal the new sales tax collection law."
And from "The Incredible Flatness that is Holland" file, we see that the Dutch are considering building an artificial mountain in order to give the flat, very flat, landscape of the Netherlands some definition. It ain't Mt. Whitney, but then, what is?
"What started as a joke about creating an artificial mountain in the utterly flat Netherlands may actually be feasible."
"This was not what semi-professional cyclist and journalist Thijs Zonneveld had expected when he posted a column on a popular Dutch news website earlier this month in which he urged people to design their own mountain with alpine slopes, meadows and villages."
"But after his article went to press, he realised just how many Dutch people felt the same way - that their nation needed a mountain."
Put the finger back in the dike...