Bill Ainsworth reports on an new effort to qualify a measure for the November ballot that would
modify California's Three Strikes law.
LA DA
Steve "Cooley has joined
Brian Dunn, an attorney from the late
Johnnie Cochran's law firm, to promote a measure for the November ballot."
"The latest proposal to change the law is more modest than Proposition 66, but is certain to trigger a similar, high-pitched political battle. It would require a third strike to be a violent or serious felony. But that requirement would not apply to a defendant who had a previous conviction for murder, rape, child molestation or any felony punishable by life imprisonment."
Lynda Gledhill reports in the Chron on the
policy retreats three of the four legislative caucuses are on this week. "With only a month to meet a deadline for placing a huge infrastructure bond on the June ballot, most lawmakers scattered this week to California resorts where they say fresh air, camaraderie and perhaps a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon can help them focus on their legislative priorities."
Yes, the cab should go nicely with the pork they'll be discussing in the infrastructure bond.
"The meetings in Napa, Monterey and Simi Valley (Ventura County) are designed to allow lawmakers a chance to get away from distractions at the Capitol and concentrate, Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles said."
"'We have our weekly caucus meetings at the Capitol,
but it's hard to get focused and undivided attention,' Núñez said. 'This gives us an opportunity to sit down and have everyone's undivided attention and focus.'"
"Núñez's group is meeting at the Hyatt Regency in Monterey, just as the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro Am golf tournament rolls into town. Their first night's dinner was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium."
"Taxpayers are footing the bill, but the
$153 per day each Assembly Democrat gets to cover lodging and other necessities is the cheapest of the three caucuses. Núñez said he's strived to keep costs of the annual get-togethers down. The hotel is $84 a day."
"Assembly Republicans have the most expensive trip,
getting $234 a day to stay at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza in Thousand Oaks (Ventura County). Many arrived Monday afternoon to partake in the celebration of Ronald Reagan's 95th birthday by having chocolate cake."
Is it just us, or is something wrong when it costs three times as much to go to Simi Valley as it does to go to Monterey?
"Senate Republicans are at the Silverado Resort in Napa Valley, costing taxpayers
$180 a day per legislator."
If you thought the Legislature was good at wasting time, check out
the hijink at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, "which is working up a resolution calling for the "full investigation, impeachment or resignation'' of
President Bush and Vice President
Dick Cheney," report Matier and Ross.
UC President
Robert Dynes will be on the hot seat today as the Senate takes a look at executive compensation at the UC system.
"'My advice to UC is to admit what wrongs may have occurred and to give us the kind of assurances that we won't be reading about this in a year or two,' said Sen.
Jack Scott, D-Altadena (Los Angeles County), who chairs the Senate Education Committee."
"Just when California is poised to ramp up road construction, Caltrans may
roll back a civil rights program that has steered tens of thousands of federally funded contracts to women- and minority-owned small businesses across the state," writes Edwin Garcia in the Merc News.
A "ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in May forces Caltrans to prove to the U.S. Department of Transportation that discrimination exists among the big contractors that share a $4 billion pot of federal transportation construction funding."
"
Olivia Fonseca, the agency's deputy director for the office of civil rights, said Caltrans Director
Will Kempton is 'passionate about the program and wants it to remain as we have now.'"
Meanwhile, a new lawsuit
challenges the state's exit exam, which is due to go into effect for graduating seniors this year, reports Jill Tucker in the Oakland Tribune. "The lawsuit, expected to be filed this morning in San Francisco Superior Court, contends
the state did not adequately prepare students to pass the exam, nor did it sufficiently study alternatives to it.
"Attorneys for Morrison & Foerster, one of the state's largest private law firms, say they will seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the state from 'denying a student a diploma solely on the basis of the exit exam,' managing attorney
Arturo Gonzalez said."
"It will likely take at least two months before a judge either grants or denies that motion — leaving seniors who have not passed the test on pins and needles until weeks before graduation day. "
Dan Walters reports on a new University of California study on the
effects of an independent redistricting. "The study, co-directed by
Bruce Cain and drawing on the institute's extensive database, found that about a dozen congressional districts and, depending on the criteria,
one to two dozen of the Assembly's 80 districts could be competitive without violating the other redistricting criteria, such as compactness and protection of minority rights."
"The study notes that even with more competitiveness, it's likely that Democrats would retain control of both the Legislature and the congressional delegation - but that observation misses the point. The purpose of redistricting reform isn't to change partisan balance, but to give voters the opportunity to elect whomever they want without the outcome being dictated by politicians themselves."
From our
Oops, I Did It Again Files, sheriffs in Malibu made a trip to the house of
Britney Spears to
investigate charges she was cruising PCH with her infant son on her lap instead of in a car seat."
"Spears, 24, issued a statement insisting that she is a good mother and that incident in question was the result of a 'frightful encounter with the paparazzi.' Pictures published in the New York Post and elsewhere on Tuesday showed Spears at the wheel of her sport utility vehicle, holding her 5-month-old baby, Sean, on her lap. A man identified as her bodyguard is shown next to her in the front passenger seat.
Not to be out done, we go to our
Too Much of a Good Thing Files: "Testifying that
Paris Hilton assaulted and threatened him, a Hollywood events producer expressed relief Tuesday after a court commissioner
granted him a restraining order against the waif-thin celebutante."
"I'm going to sleep better at night knowing that she or her henchmen can't come after me,'
Brian Quintana said after leaving the courtroom. 'Usually, it's the celeb that needs protection.'"
"Hilton's representatives pooh-poohed the court order, saying the socialite has no desire to socialize with Quintana anyway."
"'She's fine with the idea of not going near him,' publicist
Elliot Mintz said. '
Just as he does not wish to be near her, she does not want to be near him. It's a perfect outcome.'"
