Now that the holiday is behind us,
Field is out with some new numbers.
The Bee's Peter Hecht reports: "Voters marginally favor permitting four wealthy Southern California Indian tribes to add a total of up to 17,000 new casino slot machines.
"Yet the outcome of the four referendums may well depend on voters' views of overall Indian gambling expansion in the state, according to a California Field Poll released Wednesday.
"In the survey of likely Feb. 5 state primary voters,
39 percent said they were inclined to vote "yes" to approve the gambling agreements for the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.
"
Thirty-three percent of poll respondents said they would vote "no" and reject the casino expansion compacts signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and approved by the Legislature. Twenty-eight percent were undecided."
Also from the poll, it looks like the negative press surrounding the speaker's spending habits apparently hasn't hurt the term limits measure.
The Chron's Tom Chorneau
writes: "Proposition 93 would reduce the time a state legislator can serve from 14 to 12 years, although its passage would give some current lawmakers as many as three extra terms. But the new Field Poll found that just 1 in 4 voters - 25 percent - have seen or heard anything abut the measure.
"
When voters were read a summary of the proposal, a majority - 50 percent - said they would support its passage while 32 percent said they would oppose it and 18 percent were undecided. Those numbers are very similar to poll results taken in October."
"Voters want the reform, supporters said, to make the Legislature more efficient and effective,"
reports the Merc News's Steven Harmon.
"'Importantly, the 'no' side hasn't picked up any support,' said spokesman
Richard Stapler, 'despite the fact that opponents have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Proposition 93.'
"California Insurance Commissioner
Steve Poizner, the chairman of the No on 93 campaign, vowed that a highly charged campaign next month - including statewide television ads - will bring the measure crashing down.
"'
Now, we'll kick this into high gear with an aggressive, broad-based TV ad campaign,' said Poizner, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has contributed $1.5 million to the No on 93 campaign. '
We'll have a well-funded campaign, all the money we need to completely and comprehensively get our message out.'"
Meanwhile, the LAT's Marc Lifsher looks at
why the governor isn't getting involved in the writers' strike.
"'
There's been no clamor among opinion or political leaders for the governor to get involved. It doesn't make sense for him to go in as the Terminator and create the expectation he can terminate the strike single-handedly,' says
Darry Sragow, a Los Angeles lawyer and political strategist, referring to Schwarzenegger's signature action role.
"The governor, a member of the Screen Actors Guild, appears to be heeding the conventional wisdom that he should stay out of the brawl among his former colleagues in the movie industry. Although he met and spoke by phone with representatives of both sides during the first days of the strike, Schwarzenegger seems to have decided to let the parties work -- or war -- it out on their own.
"'
The governor is interested in both sides reaching an agreement as quickly as possible, but beyond that we have no further comment,' said Schwarzenegger spokesman
Aaron McLear.
"Even a "no further" comment may already be saying too much as far as Schwarzenegger is concerned. The governor's ability to be an honest broker could be hamstrung by his personal and professional ties to top studio executives, on the one hand, and his active membership in SAG, a staunch ally of the striking Writers Guild, on the other."
The LAT's Jordan Rau writes that, while the state's prison population has grown 8% since 2003,
spending has increased "79% to $8.5 billion, and is expected to top $10 billion next year."
"Prison spending now is greater than that for any other major program except public schools and healthcare for the poor. The nonpartisan legislative analyst's office projects 6% annual increases in prison spending for the next five years as a new prison and dozens of building additions are constructed and opened.
"'We know there's a lot coming down the pike,' said
Daniel Carson, who oversees criminal justice spending for the legislative analyst.
"Several causes of the department's fiscal metastasis are the same that plague many parts of California's $145-billion state budget: spending set at the ballot box and in the courts; bureaucratic waste; and more than a decade of neglect in construction, repairs and other improvements. In addition, failed efforts to help inmates stay away from crime after their release have boosted prison spending.
"The fiscal problems might not be so severe if the prison population had dropped as crime rates went down. But it hasn't, largely because lawmakers have been lengthening sentences and many released inmates end up back behind bars for new crimes."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday
proposed an expanded push for public-private partnerships and set a goal to add 20,000 new engineers to California's work force as part of his upcoming January budget plan," writes the Bee's Judy Lin.
"The Schwarzenegger administration wants the state to expand the types of public projects that can be built with the financial might of private companies.
"Current law does not allow state government broad authority to use this type of contracting – known as a Performance Based Infrastructure – except in emergencies or through legislative approval.
"Unions representing state engineers oppose outsourcing road projects, arguing that private firms will seek profits at a greater cost to taxpayers.
"But state finance officials believe increasing contract flexibility will result in better services, faster delivery and lower cost to taxpayers."
Prison guards, meet the Professional Engineers in California Government. You'll be working closely to destroy the governor next year.
The AP's Terence Chea looks at
Jerry Brown's
campaign against global warming.
"In less than a year as the state's top law enforcement official, the former governor, presidential candidate and Oakland mayor has emerged as a major player in the national debate on global warming.
"With threats, petitions, negotiated deals and a series of lawsuits, the Democratic attorney general has used his post to pressure automakers, county governments and the Bush administration to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for warming the planet.
"'
It is the most important environmental issue facing the state and the world, and that's why it's something that has to be dealt with creatively and very aggressively,' Brown said. 'I'm trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a lawful, practical way.'
"But industry representatives and other critics say Brown is misusing his powers as attorney general to advance his climate-change agenda.
"'
We disagree with the way he's using the courts to set national social and environmental policy,' said
Dave Stirling, vice president of the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation. 'He's trying to force certain types of solutions on very difficult problems' – problems that should be handled by lawmakers in Washington, Stirling said."
Finally, Jerry Brown may be trying to jump on Al Gore's bandwagon and
snowflakes may fall in the Bay Area today, but
all we really need are some pig spleens.
"
Paul Smokov doesn't need radar or other high-tech equipment to forecast a major snowstorm on the prairie.
He consults pig spleens."'
It looks like a normal year with no major storms,' said the 84-year-old Smokov, peering at two of the brown, glistening, foot-long organs on his kitchen counter like a Gypsy gazing into a crystal ball. 'That's what the spleens tell me.'
"Smokov and his wife, Betty, raise cattle on their 1,750-acre ranch north of this town of about 760 people. He is happy to share his forecast with his neighbors or anyone else willing to rely on the reading of animals' innards.
"
If the spleen is wide where it attaches to the pig's stomach and then narrows, it means winter weather will come early with a mild spring, Smokov said. A narrow-to-wider spleen usually means harsh weather in the spring, he said."The spleens obtained by Smokov this year are pretty uniform in thickness, which means no drastic changes."
