"The bitter partisan battle over how California's electoral votes are distributed may soon be coming to a parking lot near you.
"The California Democratic Party said Thursday that it
will send volunteers to supermarket and shopping center parking lots - or anyplace else people are asked for signatures -
to disrupt a petition-gathering effort to put a measure on the ballot that changes the way California's electoral votes are distributed," reports Steven Harmon in the Merc News.
Beacuse it worked so well during the recall...
"The Democratic Party is so invested in the issue because if the measure were successful, the Republican candidate for president - even if he lost the statewide vote - could reap 20 electoral votes or more, tilting the election.
"'We're asking volunteers and activists to be fraud busters,'
Art Torres, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said in a telephone conference call, 'to help stop Republicans from stealing the White House.'
"Torres said he's calling on party volunteers to help find the location of signature gatherers and post them on the state party's Web site 'so everybody can see where they are, and we can proceed to the locations to offer rebuttals or register Democratic voters at the same time.'
"'Our intention is not to harass, nor to engage, nor to debate people collecting signatures,' Torres added. '
This is the first time I've authorized a 'do not sign' campaign, which we want to be not only non-violent but non-intrusive on anybody else's First Amendment rights.'
"'Today's announcement by the California Democratic Party that it would resort to harassing petition circulators and intimidating voters in an attempt to prevent the Presidential Election Reform Act from getting on the June 2008 ballot is a sad and disturbing development,' said
Kevin Eckery, a spokesman for Californians for Equal Representation, the committee pushing the initiative.
"'
People don't like confrontation outside shopping malls. I consider this pretty intimidating,' he said."
Most people don't like signature gatherers outside shopping malls either.
"Having already laid down the law for his two teenage daughters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed legislation Thursday that will prohibit the rest of Californians under age 18 from using cellphones, text message devices and laptop computers while driving," reports Patrick McGreevy in the Times.
"The new law, which takes effect July 1, 2008, addresses a leading cause of traffic accidents resulting in deaths and injuries, the governor said during a signing ceremony at Sequoia High School in Redwood City.
"'This is to eliminate a major distraction for our young, inexperienced drivers and to make our roadways safer for everybody,' Schwarzenegger said.
"He volunteered that he has barred his two teenage daughters from using cellphones while driving."
The Bee's Peter Hecht writes that
teens won't be pulled over just for talking on their cell phones. "But when Senate Bill 33 goes into effect July 1, 2008, it is unlikely the state will see a swarm of police or California Highway Patrol officers, who already check for seat belts and child car seats, suddenly pulling over youths under 18 for driving while talking on their Apple iPhones or texting their BFFs on hot pink Razr flip phones.
"State Sen.
Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, the bill's sponsor, said SB 33 is a '
secondary offense law' -- which means authorities can't pull over teens for simply using the devices. But they can be cited under the law if they are pulled over for other violations, such as driving erratically."
"A growing political battle over restricting lead hunting ammunition claimed a high-profile victim Thursday
with the resignation of R. Judd Hanna from the California Fish and Game Commission," reports the Bee's Matt Weiser.
"Hanna submitted his resignation to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday morning. In an e-mail to supporters, obtained by The Bee, Hanna said he was told to leave by the Schwarzenegger administration following pressure from the National Rifle Association.
"The commission has been debating whether to restrict lead hunting ammunition to protect the endangered California condor and other wildlife. The NRA has been a leading opponent, claiming such limits could prevent some people from hunting and open the door to additional ammo restrictions.
"The Bee reported Thursday that 34 Republican legislators wrote Schwarzenegger on Monday, urging him to remove Hanna from the commission. They claim he was 'not being impartial' in the ammo debate."
Dan Walters
looks at the failure of the prison guard compensation package on the final night of session. "It's equally clear that CCPOA didn't really want the pay raise measure to become law because its dispute with Schwarzenegger isn't over money. He had already denounced the bill as a raid on the state treasury, and the union knew he would veto it, but CCPOA wanted to send Schwarzenegger a message that it could muster a two-thirds legislative vote, raising the specter of a veto override. Perhaps it would have goaded him into finalizing a contract more to the union's liking.
"Even that, however, may not have been the primary motivation for the dead-of-night maneuver. If he had gotten the bill passed, [CCPOA chief
Mike] Jimenez would have demonstrated to the union's somewhat restive rank-and-file members he was fighting for them and still has political juice.
"Jimenez's real problem is that he's not the smoothly omnipotent Novey. And emerging from the final night of the session with nothing while being shafted by the legislative leader means Jimenez and his union just dropped several notches in the political pecking order."
But the deep pockets Jimenez inhereted with the job ensure he still has some clout.
"A University of California, Berkeley law or business student
would pay nearly $41,000 per year by 2010 under a plan being considered by University of California leaders," reports Matt Krupnick in the Oakland Tribune.
"UC regents will discuss the fee increases for UC's professional schools today at the University of California, Davis campus.
"The hikes would apply to all professional graduate schools at the 10 UC campuses — including dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, public health and several other disciplines.
"Administrators have said the scheduled increases would allow students to plan their budgets more easily. The university traditionally has raised or lowered fees year by year, leading to student complaints -- and a federal lawsuit.
"Regents will consider raising total costs up to 15 percent per year. Berkeley law and business students are paying about $26,900 to attend this year."
"From short and sweet, to long-winded overtures, the letters have been pouring in following Mayor
Gavin Newsom's edict this week that hundreds of city officials hand in their resignations by the end of the day today.
"Many letters consist of a single, get-right-to-the-point sentence: 'I hereby tender my resignation.' Others read more like resumes than resignation letters, with officials attempting to make their case to stay on the job. And some are just plain comical.
"'
As my work here in San Francisco began with your call, it will continue with your call, until such time as you find my vision for the Juvenile Probation Department to be myopic, obscured or beyond 20-20 correction," Chief Probation Officer
Bill Siffermann wrote."
"Most senior staffers in Newsom's office used the exact same wording in their letters. Except for
Stuart Sunshine, Newsom's deputy chief of staff and his point man on transportation issues.
"'
It is with great pleasure,' his letter begins, '
that I offer you my resignation of service to the mayor's office.'"
Pleasure, indeed.
And while we were lured by the headline, "
Linking president to penis may put Pole in prison, we go instead to Pitzer College, where
academic credit is being offered for watching YouTube.
"Class lessons also are posted and students are encouraged to post videos. One class member, for instance, posted a 1:36-minute video of himself juggling.
"
Alexandra Juhasz, a media studies professor at the liberal arts college, said she was 'underwhelmed' by the content on YouTube but set up the course, 'Learning from YouTube,' to explore the role of the popular site.
Oh, come on, now. How can anyone be underwhlemed by
this?
