The governor was in Orange County yesterday, moving
one step closer to a special election. "Arriving at the wheel of a large paint truck to the sound of blaring rock music, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told more than 100 employees at a paint-distribution center Monday that
three initiatives he supports now have the needed signatures to be placed on the ballot this year ... The governor told the crowd, many of whom were clutching red T-shirts touting "
goforitarnold.com," that he still needs the threat of a special election to achieve ideas he proposed in his January State of the State address."
Meanwhile, that
Alliance for a Better California press conference originally slated for yesterday at 11 a.m. has been moved to today at 11 a.m. outside the Capitol.
Also yesterday, the governor announced a plan to
consolidate the state's energy agencies under one energy secretary. The LA Times reports that at least one consumer group is skeptical: "
Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica group that frequently opposes the governor, called that proposal "
a literal and figurative power grab.' ... 'This is a governor who is dead set on removing all independent oversight, and this seems to be an extraordinary move in that direction,' Heller said."
However, "
Robert Finkelstein, executive director of the Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group in San Francisco, said that if an energy secretary could provide a more cogent explanation of state energy policy, 'that would be an improvement.'"
With the sale of $3 billion in state bonds held up by pending legal action, the finance committee of the state's
stem cell agency sent Treasurer
Phil Angelides out to
secure $200 million in short-term loans to get the institute rolling. "'Today's action is a clear signal that we stand ready to do everything possible to provide financing to carry out the will of the voters of California,' said Angelides, chairman of the finance committee overseeing the bonds. 'We are committed to ... taking all the actions that are necessary to clear away the legal roadblocks that have been put in front of the issuance of bonds.'"
Speaking of fiscal austerity, the San Diego Union-Tribune looks at
public officials who like to go on private junkets. Chief among them in the San Diego congressional delegation is
Darrell Issa. Issa "took
$45,635 worth of trips in the past five year to conduct research, give speeches, accept awards and attend conferences and retreats. Among them was an $8,300 trip in spring 2002 paid for by Egypt's International Economic Forum. Issa, accompanied by his wife, Katharine, was in Egypt to speak at a communications technology conference for Arab businessmen and workers.
Los Angeles and the Bay Area are once again
the worst spots for traffic congestion in the nation. "With 72 hours a year in traffic delay, down from 75 the year before, the San Francisco-Oakland region falls behind Los Angeles as the nation's worst gridlock zone, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. All told, the congestion is estimated to cost about $2.6 billion a year in lost productivity."
Dan Walters looks at
Miguel Contreras's
role in state Democratic politics and wonders who will take his place. "Although someone will succeed Contreras in the labor federation position, it's very uncertain who - if anyone - will succeed him as the California Democratic Party's coalescing figure. It might be [
Fabian] Núñez, who has become the public point man for the Democratic-union resistance to Schwarzenegger and his ballot measures, but it's very difficult for someone to be a high-profile public figure and a behind-the-scenes organizer and negotiator at the same time."
The LA Times has a new mayoral poll out, which finds
Jim Hahn closing in on
Antonio Villaraigosa, whose
lead is now 11 points. "Hahn's improved standing with such pivotal groups as San Fernando Valley whites and South Los Angeles blacks has cut into the 18-point lead that Villaraigosa held in a Times poll last month."
While Hahn is making up some ground,
LA Observed notes "at this point four years ago, Jim Hahn led in the LAT Poll by seven points, and won by that margin."
So, Villaraigosa is kicking it up a notch with
a new commercial slamming the mayor. "'We all know the things Jim Hahn is accused of doing — corruption, grand jury investigations, subpoenas of his own records,' a narrator says in the 30-second spot.
'But it's really the things he hasn't done that argue strongest for a change.'"
Speaking of teetering political careers, Roll Call reports a
deal may be close on judicial appointments in the U.S. Senate. The bad news for California judge fans: State Supreme Court Justice
Janice Brown would be left out in the new deal.
It's more than just a casino: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat looks at the fight over
Lois Wolk's
bill to
name Cache Creek a "Wild and Scenic River." UC Berkeley Chancellor
Robert Birgeneau yesterday announced
a ban of alcohol at Greek events. You can, of course, drink on campus at the
Bear's Lair or
get tanked at the Pyramid Beer Garden before Cal football games.
We see lots of resolutions and proclamations pass through the Capitol, but how come we didn't think of
Orgasm Day first?
From our
Too Good to be True files, "In one of the stranger mea culpas from a major U.S. news outlet in recent years, the commentator,
Joe Scarborough, a former congressman, acknowledged on Friday that the
governor's purported lunar outburst on the nationally syndicated radio show of Howard Stern was actually a spoof.Citing a British newspaper, Scarborough had quoted Schwarzenegger on the air as saying: 'If we get rid of the moon, women, those menstrual cycles are governed by the moon, will not get (pre-menstrual syndrome). They will stop bitching and whining.'
It turned out the remarks Scarborough attributed to the Austrian-born governor were actually made by a Schwarzenegger impersonator who regularly appears on [
Howard] Stern's show as part of a running call-in gag."
