Tim Donnelly just can’t help sounding like a racist. The Assemblyman and GOP gubernatorial candidate sparked controversy yesterday when he claimed on Facebook that his opponent, Neel Kashkari, supports fundamentalist Islamic law.
Seema Mehta reports in the Los Angeles Times: “Kashkari, a former Treasury official, called the attack "absurd on its face."
"To accuse me of trying to promote sharia law in America is absurd, literally the exact opposite of the purpose of the (U.S. Treasury) conference, which was to show how American free-market principles could be brought into Islamic countries," he said.”
City officials are reacting to protests against two Beverly Hills hotels owned by the Burnei government, which recently imposed sharia law.
Martha Groves and Matt Stevens report in the Los Angeles Times: “The Beverly Hills City Council on Tuesday night approved a resolution condemning new laws targeting gays and women in the Southeast Asian sultanate of Brunei and urged the government to divest itself of the Beverly Hills Hotel.”
The design for immigrant driver’s licenses causes a divide between the state and federal government.
Patrick McGreevy reports in the Los Angeles Times: “Officials said Tuesday that the decision by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could delay distribution of the first licenses because immigrant-rights activists have vowed to fight proposals that would make them look significantly different from other licenses.”
Plans for the Fresno-Bakersfield section of the high-speed rail drew some critics to the rail board’s Tuesday meeting.
Tim Sheehan reports in the Fresno Bee: “But other speakers urged the board to approve the report and the route, which runs from downtown Fresno to the northern edge of Bakersfield and sweeps diagonally across farmland in Kings County. It includes a bypass that runs east around Hanford, bypasses around the towns of Corcoran and Allensworth, and a station to be built at Hanford's eastern edge when passenger traffic warrants it.”
After 46 years with the Senate, Chief Sergeant-at-Arms Tony Beard announced his retirement yesterday amid a scandal involving one of his employees, Gerardo Lopez. Lopez was recently fired after reports surfaced he was high during an off-duty gunfight that left one man dead.
Laurel Rosenhall reports in the Sacramento Bee: “Lopez’s mother, Dina Hidalgo, holds a high-level position overseeing human resources in the Senate. She recused herself from being involved in Lopez’s termination, said Steinberg spokesman Rhys Williams. But the fact that Lopez stayed on the payroll as long as he did triggered renewed – and largely anonymous – complaints about nepotism in Senate hiring practices.”
Steinberg said he plans to “expeditiously investigate” complaints that Hidalgo has helped family members get jobs in the Senate, and will consider changes to the Senate’s nepotism policy.”
New legislation would prevent Clippers owner Donald Sterling from writing off his $2.5 million NBA fine as business expenses.
Phil Willon reports in the Los Angeles Times: “Two state Assembly members from Los Angeles filed legislation Tuesday that would prevent sports team owners from writing off league fines as a business expense when they file their state income tax returns.”
“NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the basketball league for life and fined him after a nationwide uproar over comments he made about African Americans.”
California largest healthcare union reached a compromise with hospitals to avoid a ballot measure fight over high medical costs and executive salaries.
Chad Terhune reports in the Los Angeles Times: “Tuesday's agreement also calls for a $100-million fund that will be used in lobbying for increased hospital reimbursements from Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program for lower-income patients. Hospitals have long complained about that government shortfall and how it forces them to shift costs for uncompensated care onto employers and workers, driving up their health insurance premiums.”
Cyclists rejoice! California is now the ninth “friendliest” state for bicycling.
Tony Bizjak reports in the Sacramento Bee: “California leaped into the top 10 mainly because the state committed to increasing bike funding 30 percent last year after the federal government cut back on bike and pedestrian funding. The league also cited the state’s new law requiring drivers to give cyclists 3 feet of space when passing on the street.”
