"Legislative leaders
brokered a deal Wednesday to add 53,000 beds to the state's prison and jail systems while increasing rehabilitation opportunities for inmates with added drug treatment, vocational and education programs," reports Andy Furillo in the Bee.
"The $7.4 billion agreement to help ease California's severe prison overcrowding contained no provisions for any early releases of inmates.
"At the same time, it did not include any changes to the state's parole or sentencing systems. And it drew heavy criticism from the prison system's two largest public employee unions over a provision that would allow the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to transfer 8,000 inmates out of state in a program now on hold in the appellate courts."
Does that mean
no razor for Mike Jimenez?"A spokesman for one of the unions, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said his organization would mount a lobbying effort today when the plan goes to the Assembly and state Senate floors to 'point out problems' in what he said is a 'dangerous' plan."
CW's John Howard reports on
new regulations before the Air Resources Board that could be as big as AB 32. "It may be the most important action taken by state pollution regulators all year--as important as the implementation of last year's landmark greenhouse-gas legislation.
The vote carries a potential price tag being measured in billions, and yet the state Air Resources Board's upcoming vote has gone virtually unnoticed by all but industry insiders.California's air pollution regulators are poised to vote on
new rules to curb emissions from some 180,000 unregistered diesel machines--the earth movers, backhoes, tractors, scrapers and other heavy equipment used to build highways, dams, housing developments, skyscrapers and other big projects, public and private."
And Cosmo Garvin reports on
a spat between realtors and developers -- groups who are often allies in Sacramento.
An unusual coalition of the state's largest developers' association and affordable-housing and environmental groups have joined forces to beat back legislation sponsored by the California Association of Realtors.
"
It's the first time in my memory that we've been on opposite sides," said
Alex Creel with the Realtors group, normally staunch allies of the developers and builders.
"It's even more odd that the builders and the environmentalists are on the same side," Creel added.
The strange bedfellows fell in together after the Realtors sponsored a bill, SB 670 by Santa Ana Democrat Sen. Lou Correa, that would eliminate the use of an increasingly popular class of fees charged to homebuyers in order to fund environmental and affordable-housing projects."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday said California
will sue the federal government if the state is not allowed to implement its landmark law slashing greenhouse gases from vehicles within six months," writes Janet Wilson in the Times.
"'The clock is ticking... If we don't see quick action from the federal government, we will sue the U.S. EPA,' said Schwarzenegger, speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.
"'
I just had a conversation with [EPA Administrator] Steve Johnson, and I said we are going to sue him,' the governor said. 'I put him on notice that the federal government is moving too slow.'
"Environmental Protection Agency officials countered that they were moving 'expeditiously' on California's request. But in a move that provoked immediate criticism, they also said Wednesday that they may link a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on greenhouse gases to California's request. If they do, it could delay the waiver decision yet again."
CW offers a preview on
this weekend's Democratic convention in San Diego. "Conventions, by definition, are for the hard core. And
just as Star Trek conventions attract people wearing Spock ears who flash the live long and prosper sign, this weekend's Democratic Party gathering is the proverbial bright light to the swarm of activists preparing to descend on San Diego."But this year's party confab has some allure to the casual observer, as well. Though the presidential-primary season is still in its infancy, this weekend's gathering provides the first--and last--opportunity for White House hopefuls to address the party faithful. And with the front-loaded election calendar, candidates are swarming to the Golden State."
"AARP, one of the nation's largest and most powerful consumer groups,
is planning a statewide media campaign in support of overhauling California's shaky health care system," writes Tom Chorneau in the Chron.
The campaign comes as good news to Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose landmark health care proposal has languished in recent weeks as his attention has been drawn to more pressing issues like prison overcrowding and a growing budget deficit.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Legislature's Democratic majority have already begun moving their own health care bills through the process -- bills that differ significantly from the governor's in key areas.
AARP -- formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons -- said the 38 million-member organization is not backing any of the specific proposals now. Instead, the group is pushing generally for legislation that would cut costs and expand coverage."
The Chron's Michael Cabanatuan
writes that legislators want to crack down on drivers who illegally use capool lanes. "Carpool lane cheaters -- drivers who don't have enough passengers to qualify for access to the lanes but use them anyway -- have become so commonplace that they're clogging some diamond lanes, slowing the trip for those who pile a couple of passengers into their cars. Caltrans data show that carpool lane cheaters have become more common as traffic has worsened over the past five years."
"'They usually don't have anyone or anything in their cars -- it's just one person,' said
Joyce Holter, a solo driver who commutes on Interstate 80 between Richmond and Berkeley in the regular traffic lanes. 'They're really brazen. It's amazing.'"
Ms. Holter, it appears, is very easily amazed. In response to complaints, state Sen.
Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County), has proposed legislation that would set up a hot line and Web site for motorists to tattle on carpool lane cheaters. Those cheaters would receive a warning letter. The bill, SB 889, passed the Senate Transportation Committee this week."
Maybe we can just gun offenders down with assault weapons? Probably not a viable option, but it does offer a
segue into Malcolm Maclachlan's Capitol Weekly story.
"Over the past couple of years, hundreds of people sought to get their gun components banned under California's assault weapons law--paradoxically, so they could legally own them. The fights led to
gun enthusiasts threatening DOJ officials, posting their addresses and children's names online, and the DOJ trying to opt out of the controversy by cutting its own power. In the end, a widely misunderstood fix slipped through the Legislature, leaving these would-be assault-weapon owners with what one person involved called "very expensive paperweights."
"Welcome to the arcane world of firearms laws, where following the action can be nearly impossible and
the legality or illegality of a weapon can hinge on arguments over definitions that would make Bill Clinton blush."
The Bee's Judy Lin reports, "A coalition of community colleges and teachers is
asking California voters to change how the state calculates Proposition 98 funding so they can get what they say is their fair share of education dollars.
"The measure also
proposes to lower community college fees to $15 per unit from the current $20 rate. Future increases would have to be tied to cost-of-living adjustments and approved by the Legislature."
The Salias Californian reports on the
ouster of Superior Court Judge Jose Velásquez."A year to the day since counts of misconduct were filed against Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jose Velásquez, the California Commission on Judicial Performance on Wednesday announced it has removed the longtime judge from the bench. It's the first time the commission has ordered the removal of a judge from Monterey County Superior Court, said Victoria Henley, director and chief counsel of the commission.
As first reported Wednesday morning on TheCalifornian.com, Velásquez is suspended immediately from serving as a judge. The commission's decision becomes final in 30 days, Henley said, but he can appeal the decision to the California State Supreme Court.
"On April 25, 2006, Velásquez was charged by the commission with improper conduct involving cases in which he
increased sentences for probation violators without giving them due process, inappropriately joked about jail time with defendants and punished defendants whose attorneys arrived late to court.That same month, the commission sent Velásquez a disciplinary letter for addressing defendants in Spanish when the law requires court proceedings be in English.
In December, the commission found he acted improperly by basing sentences on how satisfied he was with defendants' honesty about their crimes, neglecting to tell certain defendants they had a right to plead 'not guilty,' and allowing his small children to be around the bench while he worked."
And since we so often close with stories from Animal Planet, we cap today's Roundup with a story from Carla Hall report on
rampant kitty death in LA County.
"In the iconography of cuteness, few things hold greater heart-melting sway than kittens.
But in the real world of urban Los Angeles, where the biology of cats, the human acceptance of outdoor felines and the shortage of surrogate cat mothers all intersect, the story is not so cute. In the 12 months ending March 31, city shelters put to death 5,622 unweaned kittens. That's slightly more than twice the number of pit bulls — possibly the most reviled dog on the planet — that were euthanized during the same period."
Can't we just ship em to other states?
