"Cheers filled San Francisco's City Hall shortly after 5 p.m. as longtime lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, partners for more than 50 years, began their second wedding - and their first legal union," reports the Chronicle.
"Mayor Gavin Newsom, who officiated the ceremony in the reception area
of his office, said it was a fitting way to memorialize
last month's state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in California, which took effect at 5:01 p.m.
"Lyon, 83, and Martin, 87, were the first couple married four years ago when
Newsom told the county clerk's office to start offering marriage certificates to
same-sex couples. Eventually more than 4,000 same-sex couples were married in San Francisco that year,
but those unions were later nullified by the court.
Today, the couple, and dozens of others, had their
first chance to make their unions truly legal.
"In at least five counties around the state, other couples
were pronounced "spouses for life" once the clock chimed 5.
"Outside San Francisco's City Hall, hundreds of raucous opponents and supporters
of same-sex marriage filled the sidewalk.
"A woman from the church of Kansas pastor
Fred Phelps - whose followers are known for their anti-gay slogans - stood behind several police barricades put up in Civic
Center. Along with two of her children, the woman loudly
sang while waving derogatory signs. Another protester
drove around the block in a truck painted to look like
an American flag with a sign that read 'Sodomy is sin.'"
The AP reports: "A conservative legal group asked a Sacramento court Monday to order the California
agency that oversees marriages to stop issuing gender-neutral marriage licenses.
"The filing came just hours before the state Supreme
Court's decision legalizing gay marriage took effect at 5:01 p.m. Monday, allowing clerks to begin issuing the
licenses.
"Gary Kreep of the San Diego County-based United States Justice Foundation said his group
filed a petition Monday on behalf of five county supervisors
from Yuba, Stanislaus, Nevada and Sutter counties.
The petition argues the state Department of Public
Health failed to hold legally required public hearings
on the licenses and claims legislators must amend state
marriage laws before the licenses are valid.
"A hearing on the request was scheduled for Tuesday
afternoon.
"Meanwhile, a conservative Christian law firm and a
church joined in faxing letters to county clerk offices
Monday, telling them that they do not have to do work
related to same-sex marriages if it violates their religious beliefs.
"Murrieta, Calif.-based law firm Advocates for Faith and Freedom and
the Seventh-day Adventist Church State Council said clerk employees
are protected from discrimination and entitled to accommodations
for their religious beliefs. The letters cited the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the California's Fair Employment and Housing Act."
For those of you unwilling to spend the long hours
in Room 4203, Dan Walters provides a budget update.
"A two-house conference committee is plowing through the relatively
minor differences between the two Democratic versions
of the budget. The Senate's proposal is slightly more liberal than the Assembly's, meaning it's less willing to make health and welfare cuts that
the governor wants, but both are somewhat more generous
to education than the governor.
"The Senate ignores Schwarzenegger's lottery gambit and includes $11.5 billion in new taxes of some kind while the Assembly
splits the difference, adopting a smaller version of
the lottery plan and assuming $6.4 billion in new taxes.
"Democratic leaders insist that they are being straightforward
by proposing new taxes and eschewing the accounting
gimmicks that have marked past budgets, but by plugging
in multibillion-dollar revenue numbers without saying what taxes they
want to raise or which loopholes they want to close,
they're still bobbing and weaving. Republican legislators
are, however, being even less candid; they say they oppose new taxes but aren't willing to say what they want to cut.
"Put it all together, and it's a big, fat political mess. The contending ideological
factions have been rolling toward this calamity for
years, adopting budget after budget that evaded underlying
conflicts of spending and revenues with gimmicks and
wishful thinking, well aware that any economic downturn
could put them into a hole too deep to ignore.
"It's finally happened. No one – and that includes the governor and 120 legislators – has the slightest notion of how or when the mess will
be cleaned up, or whether it will be."
And with city coffers struggling, er, we mean, public
safety a paramount issue, the Merc News's Michael Manekin reports officers are armed and ready to hand out cell phone
tickets come July 1.
"Beginning July 1, anyone
caught clutching a mobile phone while behind the wheel
of an automobile
could be cited by police for a "DWT" or "driving while talking."
The California Highway Patrol will be slapping first-time offenders
with $20 citations, or as high as $75. For a second ticket, citations
can reach $150 to $190.
"We're going to hit the
ground running, and initially we anticipate a lot of
citations," CHP
spokesman Trent Cross said Monday during a news conference
at CHP
headquarters in Redwood City."
And the LAT's David Kelley finds someone who obviously cared about the
legislative elections -- so much in fact, that he now faces jail time. "Prosecutors indicted four Inland Empire businessmen
Monday on money
laundering charges after accusing them of illegally
funneling $50,000
in campaign donations to seven state political races
over four years.
"Mark
Leggio, part-owner of three car dealerships, allegedly directed
three
employees to give $3,000 to $3,300 to specific candidates running for
the Assembly and state Senate between 2002 and 2006.
"He reimbursed the employees and donated the same amount
to the candidates himself, authorities said.
"
The biggest recipient was Banning Mayor Brenda Salas, who lost a
bid for the Assembly in 2006. She received $15,000 in donations,
prosecutors said. Salas could not be reached for comment
"Other
recipients of donations were Ontario City Councilman
Alan Wapner, who
lost a bid for the Assembly in 2004; Anthony Adams (R-Hesperia), who
won an Assembly seat in 2006; state Sen. Bob Dutton (R-Rancho
Cucamonga), for the Senate race and an earlier Assembly campaign; Elia
Pirozzi, who lost his 2004 bid for the Assembly and is now a San
Bernardino County Superior Court judge; and Bill Leonard, who won a
seat on the state Board of Equalization in 2002."
"Laws to protect seniors and dependent adults from abuse
by court-appointed conservators are under threat as California lawmakers seek painful
cuts to close the state's $15.2-billion budget deficit," writes Jack Leonard in the Times.
"The laws were part of a sweeping reform package signed
by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger two years ago after a
Los Angeles Times series had exposed theft, abuse and
negligence by some professional conservators appointed
to look after seniors.
"State senators in a key legislative committee recently
recommended suspending some of the reforms for a year,
thereby saving $17.4 million. The money was intended to help probate courts
improve supervision of conservators.
"If Assembly members back the move, it will delay funding
for the reforms for the second consecutive year. Last
year, the governor vetoed the necessary funding, citing
fiscal problems."
"Domestic violence victims who refuse to testify against
their abusers would no longer be threatened with jail time under
legislation sent yesterday to the governor," writes the AP's Samantha Young.
"The bill by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, instead would allow judges to order
victims to attend counseling or fulfill community service.
"It was passed by the Assembly on a 42-22 vote, after an emotional debate in which lawmakers
were asked to decide whether domestic violence victims
should be punished as a way to put their abusers behind
bars.
"'The important thing to remember is these are victims
of a heinous crime,' said Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge."
"A state senator hopes to revive a controversial bill that would increase
media access to disciplinary hearings and records involving
Los Angeles Police Department officers," reports the LAT's Joel Rubin.
"The legislation, according to Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), was encouraged by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and
has already generated sharp criticism from the union
that represents LAPD officers.
"Last year, Romero sponsored similar, yet more far-reaching, legislation that sought to overturn a state
Supreme Court ruling that effectively barred law enforcement
agencies from releasing personnel information.
"The legislation passed the Senate, but stalled in the
Assembly's public safety committee. Members of the panel refused
to discuss it or vote on it after leaders from several
influential law enforcement unions spoke vociferously
against it.
"Union leaders argued that the law would endanger police
officers' lives by making it easier for disgruntled members
of the public to track them down -- although they could not cite cases in which officers
had suffered such harm before the Supreme Court's ruling, when the public enjoyed greater access to
disciplinary information."
"University of California Provost Wyatt “Rory” Hume announced his resignation yesterday just a few hours after the university system's new president settled into his first formal day on
the job.
"Hume's departure from the No. 2 post will give new President Mark Yudof an immediate opportunity to start building his team
from the top. Hume, who also functions as UC's chief operating officer, said he will step down by
September. Hume said he will continue working in higher
education, but announced no specific plans.
"'This is something that I came to on my own,' Hume, 63, said in a brief interview. 'The time is right from my personal circumstance and
my family's point of view and I felt . . . it was the right thing
for the university to let (Yudof) build his own team.'
"UC Board of Regents Chairman Richard Blum applauded Hume's work to begin restructuring the president's office and said he was not asked to resign."
"'I told him . . . because he was busting his pick as
provost, I wanted whoever the new president was to
pick his own team, but he was the only one, and there
was an understanding with Mark Yudof that he was welcome
to stay for up to a year if Yudof wanted to make some
changes,' Blum said."
"Many students who are behind in their skills are not overcoming their deficiencies in the state's community colleges, according to a study by the Legislative Analyst's Office released Monday," reports Deb Kollars in the Bee.
"In particular, numerous students are not being assessed
adequately or early enough in basic math, writing and
reading skills, nor are they being guided in large
enough numbers into remedial courses that will lift
them up, the report states.
"The report, "Back to Basics: Improving College Readiness of Community College Students," makes recommendations for improving the situation.
"'These students need a lot of help,' said the author, Paul Steenhausen, senior fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative
Analyst's Office. 'They need more counseling. They need early assessment
while they are still in high school.'"
Meanwhile, the streets of California are turning into
the set for Quadrophenia , reports the Merc's Matt Nauman.
"When gas passed $3 a gallon, people started selling their Hummers and
buying Priuses.
"Now, with gas costing more than $4.50 a gallon, the 48-mpg Prius isn't enough for some people.
Enter the scooter - that lovable two-wheeler popular for decades in
Europe that offers 60, 70 or 100 mpg, and is all the rage now in the
United States."
And finally from our Double Trouble Files, AP reports,
"Leona Helmsley's dog isn't quite as well-heeled as she used to be.
Manhattan Surrogate Judge Renee Roth has reduced the
trust fund for the
little dog, named Trouble, from $12 million to $2 million
"The remaining $10 million now goes to Helmsley's charitable foundation."
