California’s national parks lost more money during the government shutdown than those in any other state.
Marianne Russ reports for Capitol Public Radio: “A new park service report finds California lost more than $30 million during the 16-day shutdown, when parks were closed.”
A new poll by the San Francisco Chronicle finds support for a proposed initiative to cap CEO pay.
Joe Garofoli reports for the Chronicle: “Our snap, armchair conclusion: If this poll is the least bit predictive, it will soon be a lot less lucrative to be the CEO of a nonprofit hospital in California.”
“A poll — commissioned by the SEIU, a principal backer — of 1,160 likely November voters shows that 70 percent of the respondents favored capping hospital CEO pay at $450,000, a number so chosen because that’s what the President of the U.S. is currently paid.”
Statewide office holders and state legislators may be getting another boost in their pay.
Patrick McGreevy reports in the Los Angeles Times: “Three months after Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers received a 5% pay raise, a state panel is set to meet next week to begin considering whether to provide further increases, and the chairman of the group says data from counties indicates California elected officials are underpaid.”
The cost to pay California’s state workers is on track to increase substantially next year.
Jon Ortiz reports in the Sacramento Bee: “In a far-ranging assessment of how much California pays its help, a nonpartisan report on Tuesday said the state government will spend a half-billion dollars more on employee compensation next year, but most workers’ take-home wages will continue to lag behind inflation.”
“Meanwhile, the size of the state workforce will remain essentially flat as some departments add staff while others cut positions, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office assessment of Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2014-15 state budget plan.”
A U.S. judge found a 2011 $9.5 billion judgment in Ecuador against Chevron for environmental damages was fraudulent.
Shan Li reports in the Los Angeles Times: “U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that the 2011 judgment against the San Ramon, Calif., company on behalf of thousands of villagers living in the Lago Agrio region of the Amazon rain forest was procured by "corrupt means," including coercion and money laundering.”
“Kaplan said that Steven Donziger, a New York lawyer, along with attorneys in Ecuador, poisoned the case by promising money to a judge for a favorable ruling and submitting faulty evidence, among other actions.”
A third Republican candidate in the primary race for governor, Mayor Andrew Blount of Laguna Hills, released his first campaign video.
David Sider reports for the Sacramento Bee: “Blount joins two Republicans, Twin Peaks Assemblyman Tim Donnelly and former U.S. Treasury Department official Neel Kashkari, bidding to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown.”
“Blount has developed a political application for mobile devices that he has said will help him reach voters at a low cost.”
L.A.’s teachers, unsatisfied with the outcomes from Brown’s plan to fund public schools (Prop. 30), have mobilized for class size reductions.
Dakota Smith reports in L.A. Daily News: “The union representing Los Angeles teachers launched a new campaign Tuesday aimed at reducing classroom size.”
“United Teachers Los Angeles members and parents passed out fliers at campuses, demanding Los Angeles Unified School District leaders focus on smaller classes, said UTLA President Warren Fletcher.”
Sacramento could soon be paying residents to get rid of their green lawns.
Ryan Lillis reports in the Sacramento Bee: “The city of Sacramento wants to pay you to rip out your water-guzzling lawn.”
“The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to launch a “cash for grass” program that will provide rebates to homeowners who replace their grass lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping. Demand for the rebates is expected to be high; city utilities officials said they already had a waiting list for the program before the spending plan was approved.”
