California's unique-in-the-nation law to protect the public from harmful chemicals, Proposition 65 of 1986, is on Gov. Brown's hit list; he says the law has been subverted. First CEQA, now Proposition 65: The governor is quickly getting on the environmentalists' hit list.
From the LAT's Marc Lifsher: "Proposition 65 is a good law that's helped many people, but it's being abused by unscrupulous lawyers," Brown said in a statement. "This is an effort to improve the law so it can do what it was intended to do — protect Californians from harmful chemicals."
"Supporters credit the law — and the threat of lawsuits — with forcing businesses to pull tainted goods or reformulate them with safer ingredients. Critics contend that it also has created a cottage industry of lawyers looking to collect lucrative financial settlements from businesses doing little or nothing wrong."
"Brown faces a tough challenge in rewriting the initiative, the only one of its kind in the country. Changing it will require approval from at least two-thirds of both houses of the Legislature."
Speaking of the governor, he was asked about those huge broken bolts on the Bay Bridge.
From the Bee's David Siders: "Gov. Jerry Brown, apparently unfazed by reports of broken and suspect bolts on the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, said today when asked about the problem, "Look, s--- happens."
"The Democratic governor said it would be "premature to pull our hair out" over the cracked bolts, which threaten to delay the $6.4 billion structure's scheduled opening in September.
"Don't know if it's a setback," Brown told reporters after a California Highway Patrol memorial event in West Sacramento. "I mean, look, s--- happens."
Meanwhile, major gaming tribes in California have been quietly at work crafting an internet poker bill.
From the Press-Enterprise's Jim Miller: "Deep divisions among the state’s politically influential tribal casino industry — including tribes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties — thwarted past attempts to advance legislation to license online poker in California, one of the world’s largest potential markets."
"In recent months, though, tribes that previously opposed online poker because they said it threatened their casino businesses have begun to warm to the idea. Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey have authorized Internet gaming. And a legal site, Ultimate Poker, started taking bets in Nevada last week. Congress, meanwhile, could adopt nationwide rules harmful to tribes’ interests."
“Tribes are primed right now to begin moving it, to begin working with state legislators to see something to fruition,” Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians near Temecula, said at an online gaming conference sponsored by Capitol Weekly, a publication that covers California government and politics."
A jarring indication of the level of illegal immigration in California: One of every 10 people in Los Angeles County is undocumented.
From the LAT's Cindy Chang: "One in 10 Los Angeles County residents is an immigrant living in the country illegally, according to a study released Tuesday by the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration."
"Many of those immigrants have been in the country for more than a decade and are the parents of children who are American citizens, the study found. One in five children in Los Angeles County has at least one parent who is in the country without proper documentation."
"One in four of the estimated 11 million people said to be in the United States without legal authorization lives in California. Statewide, the study estimates that about 7% of residents, or more than 2.6 million people, are in the country illegally."
An intriguing and disturbing tale in the world of hardball politics, in which money, loyalty and strategy get all tangled up.
From the Bee's Dan Morain: "After helping Brown again in the 2010 election, Glazer became a consultant for the California Chamber of Commerce, hoping to elect moderate Democrats. That's when he crossed Speaker John A. Pérez and labor."
"Six months after the election, charges fly of unethical practices. Some people involved have lawyered up, anticipating a Fair Political Practices Commission investigation. Although parts of the story are murky, here's what is known:"
"Early in 2012, with Glazer's aid, the California Chamber of Commerce's political action committee, Jobs PAC, targeted two Assembly Democrats – Betsy Butler from the Santa Monica area, and Michael Allen from Marin and Sonoma."
Finally, from our "We Knew It All Along" file comes word that a top editor at ABC News in New York, a guy, is now a gal. This is one reason journalism is so much fun.
Top ABC News editor Don Ennis walked into his Manhattan office on Friday in a “little black dress” and a brunette bobbed wig and announced to colleagues that from now on, he would like to be known as Dawn."
"The 49-year-old father of three said he’s splitting from his wife of 17 years to become a woman, or Dawn Stacey Ennis, as she is now known on her governmental records."
Please understand: This is not a game of dress-up, or make-believe. It is my affirmation of who I now am and what I must do to be happy, in response to a soul-crushing secret that my wife and I have been dealing with for more than seven years, mostly in secret.”
"Ennis said she suffers from an “unusual hormonal imbalance,” and blames her mother, who fed her female hormones as a child to prolong a commercial acting career. The hormones made the little boy look and sound young, but Ennis said she eventually developed breasts."
Definitely, a story with legs ....
