"As she prepares to depart from EBay after a decade at the helm, Chief Executive
Meg Whitman appears to be investigating a new career -- in politics," reports Joe Mathews in the Times.
"Whitman
has talked with top Republicans about the possibility of a run for California governor in 2010, according to three operatives who have had discussions with her. Whitman is said to be asking detailed questions about the logistics of a run and the effect she could have as governor, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations.
"Whitman did not make herself available for comment. A source close to her said she had been talking with Republicans around the state and had become "fascinated" by politics in her work as a fundraiser for GOP presidential hopeful
Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and a former colleague of Whitman at the consulting firm Bain & Co.
"The source close to Whitman, however, downplayed the seriousness of the conversations, saying that Whitman was still new to politics and that California Republicans, not Whitman, were the ones driving the discussion."
"The state Supreme Court poked another hole in California's medical marijuana law Thursday,
ruling that the voter-approved measure doesn't protect users from being fired for testing positive for the drug at work," reports Bob Egelko in the Chron.
"In a 5-2 decision, the court said the 1996 initiative, Proposition 215, exempted medical marijuana patients and their caregivers from state prosecution, but didn't limit an employer's authority to fire workers for violating federal drug laws.
"'We have no reason to conclude the voters intended to speak so broadly, and in a context so far removed from the criminal law, as to require employers to accommodate marijuana use,' Justice
Kathryn Mickle Werdegar said in the majority opinion.
"Dissenting Justice
Joyce Kennard said the voters never intended to subject medical marijuana users to the "cruel choice" of forgoing their medication or losing their jobs. A state lawmaker spoke in similar terms later in the day in announcing legislation that would overturn the ruling."
"Lawmakers on Thursday
continued moving toward an overhaul of the subprime mortgage lending industry as foreclosures continue to oust Californians from their homes at an unprecedented pace," reports Steve Geissinger in the Merc News.
"The Assembly approved
AB 529, by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, which would require loan companies to provide homeowners with more warning before their mortgages increase - an emergency first step while Democrats begin debate on a sweeping proposal unveiled Wednesday that would ban certain industry practices.
"AB 529, sent to the Senate on a 44-29 vote Thursday, would require lenders to notify borrowers of interest rate changes four months, two months and one month prior to the adjustment."
The
new PPIC poll is out, with results that mirror this week's Field Poll. Hank Shaw reports, "The Public Policy Institute of California found that, as in the Field Poll, Arizona Sen.
John McCain and New York Sen.
Hillary Clinton are leading their respective primary fields.
"Former Massachusetts Gov.
Mitt Romney and Illinois Sen.
Barack Obama are running second in both sets of polls."
Clinton has a 43-28 lead over Obama, while
McCain leads Romney 29-17.
"
On the ballot propositions California voters will face Feb. 5, the PPIC poll shows Proposition 93 - the measure that would alter state legislators' term limits - in a dead heat, just as the Field Poll did Wednesday.
"'Yes' votes and 'no' votes are evenly split at 42 percent, with 16 percent undecided. As in the Field Poll, support for the proposition has been steadily slipping all year."
You can read the entire poll at
www.ppic.org.
The LAT's Marc Lifsher reports: "California lawmakers
are asking ... questions about the traveling exhibits of so-called plastinated bodies. On Thursday the state Assembly voted 50 to 4 to approve legislation to ensure that the people whose remains are on display consented to be gawked at by the public. The bill next goes to the Senate.
"'Although plastination was intended to advance medicine and science, many entrepreneurs are using plastination to make outrageous profits by dissecting, mutilating and parading unwilled bodies around the world and in our state,' the bill's sponsor, Assemblywoman
Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), said during Assembly debate. 'Asking for consent and verification is not too much to ask.'
"The two major anatomy exhibitors are divided on the legislation. Industry pioneer Body Worlds said it has no problem providing donor documentation. The other exhibitor, Premier Exhibitions Inc., which operates the Sacramento show, said it obtained all the remains legally from Chinese medical and scientific organizations but does not know the identities of the donors."
From our
Air is Dirty, Politics is Dirty Files, The state
Senate refused on Thursday to confirm one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointments to the California Air Resources Board after Democratic lawmakers questioned the nominee's commitment to fighting for cleaner air.
"The air board has a high-profile task of crafting regulations to meet California's aggressive goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under AB32, the landmark legislation to fight global warming.
"
Judith Case was tapped in May by the Republican governor to serve a four-year term on the 11-member board. She is a member of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District board, representing the region that has some of the worst air quality in the state."
"Despite state goals to encourage alternative energy, no application to build a large solar power plant in California has been approved in 18 years, and new
projects could face significant delays in the bureaucracy, the state auditor said Thursday," reports the LAT's Patrick McGreevy.
"An audit found that power plants must go through multiple agencies for approval, and there is no one authority that can smooth the process.
"'The current delays in power-generation are not meeting California's needs, and we need to find a way to expedite approvals,' said Assemblyman
Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank), who requested the audit.
"Auditor
Elaine Howle's report found that economics are largely to blame for the lack of large solar projects under construction.
""These factors include the lower cost of electricity generated from other renewable sources, the need for large investments in land and infrastructure, and an unproductive incentive system designed to help firms that generate power from renewable sources meet their costs,' Howle wrote to the governor and Legislature."
"Patients
could soon find it easier to learn if California physicians are facing discipline over accusations that they practiced while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, state licensing officials said yesterday," writes the U-T's Marcos Wohlsen.
"Under a decades-old state-run program scheduled to end this summer, doctors in California can practice without notifying their patients they were in treatment for substance abuse. The Medical Board of California voted last summer to eliminate its Diversion Program, which is set to end June 30.
"'The public now demands transparency,' Dr.
Richard Fantozzi, president of the Medical Board of California, told a meeting packed with the abolished program's supporters and opponents. 'Why should doctors be protected in secrecy when consumer safety hangs in the balance?'
"Several state-sponsored audits in recent years concluded the diversion program failed to protect patients – or help addicted doctors get better."
And finally, who says nothing cool ever happens in Mikwaukee? "
A bronze statue of the Fonz will be erected in Milwaukee, where the TV sitcom was set, now that local groups have raised the $85,000 needed to do it.
"Funds were raised from nearly 300 T-shirts and "Bronze the Fonz" thumbs-up cookies sold at a Jefferson, Wis., bakery.
"
Steven Palchinski, 22, of Martensville, Saskatchewan in Canada, said he would like to take a trip to Milwaukee to see the Fonz statue. He said he's been watching "Happy Days" since the early 1990s and liked how the show used Fonz to help prompt kids to read or show emotion."
What emotion is that, exactly?
