It wasn't a great weekend for the speaker, with papers across the state echoing the LAT's story on his spending of campaign funds.
The LAT's Steve Lopez
weighs in. "I checked one five-week stretch of [
Fabian] Nuñez's expenses in 2006 and found that he'd dined at the likes of the Water Grill ($602.29), Pacific Dining Car ($1,003.37), and Asia de Cuba ($538.10), and, in Sacramento, Biba restaurant ($1,026.58).
"Along with several other meal/meetings in that five-week stretch, his dining tab came to $7,764.94.
"Can someone please give him directions to a Pizza Hut?
"As you might have imagined, the news of Nuñez's champagne tastes had some donors feeling duped.
"'
We would much prefer that he be educating himself about what's the best healthcare system in the world rather than the best wine or the best shoes or any number of expenditures,' said
Donna Gerber, director of government relations for the California Nurses Assn., which donated $4,000 to Friends of Fabian.
"
Barry Broad, who represents the Teamsters ($15,900 in donations to Nuñez) and other labor groups, says it's hard to ask members to keep digging into their pockets for campaign donations when the working stiffs open their paper and see that Nuñez is frolicking around the world like he's playing with Monopoly money.
"It's the kind of story that "further undermines the public's view of the political process," Broad said. But "I don't know how much lower it could go."
"Not much, especially when the records reveal that Nuñez rang up unspecified office expenses at Nordstrom for $476.28.
"A set of wine glasses, perhaps?"
Meanwhile, "[e]nvironmentalists and industry officials alike are holding their breath,
waiting for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to act on a stack of environmental bills in the next few days that would do everything from require green building standards on new homes and commercial buildings to banning a controversial type of chemicals in children's toys," reports Paul Rogers in the Merc News.
"Schwarzenegger has until Sunday to sign or veto all the bills that the state Legislature sent him this year.
"And as in years past, Schwarzenegger is keeping both supporters and opponents of many of the top environmental issues guessing right until the end. His actions are harder to predict than previous governors, they say.
"'Arnold is a celebrity. He loves some of these environmental issues,' said
John White, executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, an environmental group in Sacramento.
"'He has great command of the subjects in a speech-making kind of way. Environmentalists see him, unlike with (former Gov.) Pete Wilson, as 'there's always a chance with Arnold that you might get a bill signed.' He is a centrist.'"
The Bee's Judy Lin looks into at
the tricks used to pull together the state budget. "California has a long-standing habit of making controversial accounting maneuvers to help balance the budget, only to be hammered in court later and stuck with interest payments and attorneys' fees.
"Budget watchdogs say Democratic and Republican elected officials alike have been guilty of trying money-saving gimmicks whenever the state finds itself short of cash. Often the moves are risky and to the taxpayers' detriment.
"Policy experts agree it's no way to write a budget.
"'The answer is clearly no,' said
Fred Silva, fiscal adviser to the New California Network, a nonpartisan fiscal policy group, and a former legislative budget director. 'Public budgeting ought to be organized so you reduce the number of threats, so there's some certainty. This simply adds uncertainty.'"
"Frustrated in efforts to legalize same-sex marriage through legislation or litigation, proponents
will launch a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign this week to 'open hearts and minds' in Sacramento and other major cities," reports Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"The 60-second ads will run in the capital, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Springs as part of a monthslong campaign to prod families to openly discuss same-sex marriage.
"'The long-term goal is to have the majority of Californians support the freedom to marry -- to change the climate here,' said
Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, which is coordinating the campaign.
Benjamin Lopez, spokesman for the Traditional Values Coalition, which opposes same-sex marriage, called the effort 'grasping at straws.'
"The same TV spot will run in all five cities, beginning Thursday.
"The ad depicts a traditional wedding, with an excited crowd, a flower girl tossing petals and a tuxedoed groom. As the bride walks down the aisle, she is tripped by a spectator and sprawls onto the floor. These words fill the screen:
"'What if you couldn't marry the person you loved?'"
The U-T's Michael Gardner sketches out
the fault lines in the water debate.
"
The Republican governor is pressing for $5.1 billion to build two reservoirs and enlarge a third. Water agencies would be required to chip in an addition $5 billion or so – money that would largely come from ratepayers.
"Advocates of more storage are convinced the time to act is now, with the public's anxiety over a dry spell, climate change and court-ordered measures to protect a Sacramento delta fish that threaten to disrupt Southern California water deliveries.
"That agenda is suspect, critics contend. No water agency has stepped forward with a check, the environmental risks outweigh any possible benefits and there are easier, cheaper and quicker ways to improve water supply, they say.
"
This year, majority Democrats have countered with a $5.4 billion bond measure that does not dedicate money to large, statewide projects. It reflects their belief that the state's priorities should be water savings, underground storage and local reservoir projects, such as enlarging San Vicente in San Diego County."
George Skelton
meanwhile, is loking for some middle ground.. "If the governor and lawmakers can agree on reservoirs and reclamation, that could be worthwhile. But they should forget the delta for now. Wait for the governor's blue-ribbon report. Then offer the voters a complete remodeling plan, not some vague sketch.
"Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger should immediately sign a Perata bill that has been sitting dormant on his desk. It would appropriate $611 million in already-authorized bond money for various water projects, including a few delta repairs.
"During the current battle, we should be rooting for something between gridlock and grandiose."
Apropos of nothing, it was four years ago Sunday that citizen Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger...From our
Who Stepped in It? Files: The LAT's John Glionna writes that
residents of Woodland are complaining about their odiferous town. "This town stinks. The mayor has been sniffing around for a solution. The local newspaper editor has also nosed about. An expert briefly brought in a scent-detecting device straight out of an old "Star Trek" episode.
"But nobody has solved the mysterious odor problem.
"Some nights, when the wind blows just so, various stenches waft across residential areas, causing folks to hold their noses and run for the phone.
"So many complained that Woodland created a 24-hour odor hotline. One caller said the aroma smelled like rotting feet. Another said it was more like sweaty socks or 'horrible tennis shoes.' Still another likened it to 'a wet dog rolling in manure.'
"'It's horrible,' said resident
Tim Bair. '
It's like driving by a cattle feed lot, sniffing the ocean at low tide and standing on an open sewage hole, all rolled into one.'"
Congratulations to Reuters for penning one of the most horrific phrases in the English language:
sherry enema death. No, it's not a new metal band, it's the subject of a Texas court case.
"Charges have been dropped against
a Texas woman who was accused of giving her husband a sherry enema that killed him, the prosecutor in the case said on Wednesday.
"
Tammy Jean Warner had been scheduled to face trial for negligent homicide in the May 2004 death of
Michael Warner, 58, but Brazoria County District Attorney
Jeri Yenne said the charges were dismissed a month ago for lack of evidence.
"The dead man had had 'a severe alcohol issue' and it was not clear his wife had committed a crime, Yenne said in a telephone interview.
"'Let's say I have lung cancer and I continue to smoke. If you provide cigarettes to me, is that negligent homicide?' Yenne said.
Guess it depends where you stick those cigarettes...
