This week, lawmakers consider two possible options for regulating California’s 20-year-old medical marijuana industry.
Michael Gardner reports for UT-San Diego: “The dueling measures are scheduled to be tested this week after talks on both continued during the recent spring recess.”
“The city-police backed legislation will be heard by the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee on Monday. Ammiano’s counter measure undergoes its first test the next day before the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Substantial amendments are anticipated and the outcome remains uncertain.”
A more moderate Republican is challenging an incumbent who is one of the country’s most highly rated conservative congressional voters.
Norimitsu Onishi reports in the New York Times: “…here in California, where a top-two primary system nearly guarantees that Mr. Moore will move past the primary to the general election, the challenge is coming from the left, with Mr. Moore arguing that Mr. McClintock is too conservative even for this strongly Republican district.”
“Conservatives are gathering to protect Mr. McClintock, one of the few congressmen whose voting record is considered perfect by prominent conservative groups like Club for Growth and Freedom Works. In response, Mr. Moore has hired Rob Stutzman, a onetime aide to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — a moderate Republican himself — as a political consultant.”
The state’s political watchdog is again reprimanding a key board member of the country’s largest public pension fund.
Marc Lifsher reports in the L.A. Times: “Priya Mathur, board vice president of the $288-billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, has a penchant for not filing timely reports to the Fair Political Practices Commission. And she failed again for 2012 and 2013.”
“Since she was first elected in 2002, Mathur, a financial analyst for the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, has been fined $13,000 for five reporting violations. Colleagues publicly reprimanded her for some of the lapses in 2010.”
San Bernardino is again at odds with CalPERs over making required payments for pension obligations.
Rick Lyman and Mary Williams Walsh report in the New York Times: “The resistance ended last year when the city resumed its payments. But now, with a mayor who swept into office last month promising to deal once and for all with skyrocketing pension costs, San Bernardino is in another fight with Calpers that could embolden other municipalities seeking relief from crippling payments to the nation’s largest public pension system.”
The Central Basin Water District, tainted by a federal corruption case, is now at risk of losing its insurance.
Hector Bexerra reports for the L.A. Times: “Losing its insurance could hurt Central Basin's standing in financial markets and its ability to get loans, and would mean the district would have to find another insurance provider, possibly at a much higher rate.”
“Gary Milliman, a municipal insurance expert who once served as South Gate city manager, said Central Basin would be hard-pressed to find replacement insurance without paying considerably more. Losing its insurance could make it harder to secure loans and grants, and even to proceed with projects.”
An inmate walked away from a minimum-security prison camp in Riverside County.
The Associated Press reports: “The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says 49-year-old James Steven Murray was last seen in his dorm room at Oak Glen Conservation Camp near Yucaipa on Friday at about 8:20 p.m. during a routine security check.”
A Santa Clara boy boarded a flight to Hawaii… in the wheel well of the airplane.
The Associated Press reports: “A 16-year-old boy stowed away in the wheel well of a flight from California to Hawaii on Sunday, surviving the trip halfway across the Pacific Ocean unharmed despite frigid temperatures at 38,000 feet and a lack of oxygen, FBI and airline officials said.”
