"In his broadest, harshest critique of state officials
yet, the court-appointed overseer of healthcare in state prisons said
Tuesday he would run out of money soon and had begun preparing
to seize the funding he needs with an order from a
federal judge," reports Michael Rothfeld in the Times.
"Receiver J. Clark Kelso, who had previously directed most of his displeasure
at state lawmakers for refusing to approve his $7-billion plan to construct prison healthcare facilities,
on Tuesday added Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Controller
John Chiang and the nonpartisan legislative analyst's office to the list of officials showing 'an unwillingness to accept accountability.'
"'The state's failure to make the necessary financial commitment
is not a result of inadvertent neglect or mere incompetence,' Kelso said in a filing to U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, who appointed him. "It is a result of conscious, deliberate obstruction."
"Kelso told reporters that although he still hopes state
officials will cooperate, preferably by borrowing the
money he needs, he has begun laying the groundwork
to ask Henderson to issue an order for the money. That
could take the form of an injunction directing Chiang
to pay the receiver's bills or a draft on state bank accounts and could
occur within a couple of months, he said.
"'There will come a time when I simply run out of money,
and sometime before then I will be forced to take more
substantial steps,' Kelso said.
"With a sense of history and a looming battle at the
ballot box, hundreds of gay and lesbian couples in California wed
on Tuesday, a steady and decidedly confident celebration that
was a marked departure from the mad rush here four
years ago," reports Jesse McKinley in the New York Times.
Congratulations to Dennis Mangers, president of the California Cable & Telecommunications Association, who married his longtime
partner Michael Sestak yesterday at the Secretary of State's auditorium.
"The marriages began in many cities just after 8 a.m., with the early opening of a number of the state’s 58 county clerks’ offices. But unlike the scene in 2004, when San Francisco — and San Francisco alone — broke state law to wed thousands of same-sex couples (the marriages were later nullified by the courts), Tuesday’s ceremonies often had a sense of calm and permanence.
“'It was so legally ambiguous last time,' said Lorie Franks, 43, who came to City Hall here, as she had in 2004, to marry her longtime partner, Annemary Franks. 'It was really touching, but we kind of knew it was
on thin ice. This time, to me, feels more real.'
"Much of that security came from the May 15 ruling by the California Supreme Court legalizing
same-sex marriage, and the subsequent rejections of challenges
to the decision by the same court and the State Court
of Appeals, which denied another request for a stay
of the marriages on Tuesday.
"The Supreme Court’s decision became official at 5:01 p.m. Monday, and Tuesday morning was marked by a burst
of mass matrimony, as couples wed in civic buildings,
under street-front chuppahs, and in more private locations. California
became only the second state to legalize same-sex marriage — Massachusetts did so in 2004 — but California’s law allowing out-of-state residents to marry as well opened the doors here
to couples from Kansas, Hawaii and Texas, as well as
from Thailand, France and Italy."
At press time, no county clerks had spontaneously combusted.
"Under pressure from falling home values, high oil prices
and rising unemployment, the economy in California
and the nation will perform anemically in the coming months -- but there still won't be an actual recession, UCLA forecasters say," reports Roger Vincent in the Times.
"'I am holding on to what is now a shaky view: no recession this year,' said economist Edward Leamer, director of the quarterly UCLA Anderson Forecast,
which is being released today.
"The predictions, however, call for somewhat more pain
in the months ahead than previously forecast, with
little improvement this year or next.
"Not good, but not a recession, which is commonly defined
as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in gross
domestic product.
"'In a recession, things happen quicker and nastier,' said David Shulman, a senior economist at UCLA.
"Normal growth will not resume until 2010, Shulman said."
Dan Walters adds Proposition 98 to the list of reasons why a tax increase will be
so difficult to include in this year's budget.
"Since roughly half of new taxes must be channeled to
the schools, regardless of their financial condition
or other spending needs, any approach to deficit-closing that relies on taxes must be much larger – and therefore much more politically difficult – than it otherwise would be.
"Schwarzenegger says the state has a $15.2 billion deficit. It's about 15 percent of general fund spending. Closing it all with
new taxes – unless Proposition 98 were to be suspended – would require $25 billion to $30 billion in new levies of some kind. It would be the
equivalent of virtually doubling state sales taxes
or increasing personal income taxes by about 50 percent.
"California's voters, first by mandating two-thirds legislative votes on new taxes with Proposition
13 in 1978, and then guaranteeing schools a hefty share of current
revenue and any new taxes with Proposition 98 in 1988, may have made it almost impossible to balance revenue
and spending."
"A long-brewing battle between Senate Democrats and Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger over the state's parole board could come to a head today as four members face what's expected to be a contentious confirmation hearing," reports Shane Goldmacher in the Bee.
Whew, we need some drama. That budget conference
committee is b-o-r-i-n-g.
"The state Senate has already blocked confirmation of
two parole board members this year.
"Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, has criticized the board for the low number
of paroles granted and has threatened to block appointees
hailing from law enforcement.
"Three of the four appointees set for today's hearing have served in county sheriff's offices.
"The 17-member Board of Parole Hearings is responsible for
determining when – and if – the state's most serious offenders may be set free.
"In 2007, the board granted parole to 129 prisoners out of 5,520 scheduled hearings, nearly one-third of which were postponed.
"'We question whether or not that reflects the idea of
rehabilitation,' said Perata's spokeswoman, Lynda Gledhill."
Speaking of boring, looks like we'll all get to vote on redistricting this fall -- again.
The Chron's John Wildermuth reports, "An initiative to take
redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature will
be on the
November ballot, backed by a couple of strange political
bedfellows.
"Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former state
Controller
Steve Westly, a Democrat who lost his primary bid to challenge
Schwarzenegger in 2006, are co-chairs of the effort to change the way
California draws most of its political boundaries.
Steve who?
"Westly and Schwarzenegger also worked together in 2004 as co-chairs
of the group backing Propositions 57 and 58, which were designed to
ease the state's budget woes.
"The state Democratic Party
already has come out against the redistricting initiative,
arguing that
it would make it harder for blacks, Latinos and other
minorities to get
elected to office.
"'This flawed initiative would greatly jeopardize minority
representation in the California Legislature,' Art Torres, the state
party chair, said in a statement. 'While California's redistricting
process is in need of reform, this initiative is not
the answer.'
"Westly isn't the only Democrat backing the initiative. Former
Gov.
Gray Davis has endorsed the redistricting plan, and groups including
California Common Cause, AARP and the Southern California
ACLU, which
often support Democratic legislation, are behind the
measure."
That November ballot, with it's 11 initiatives, is quickly becoming like a phone book
-- way too long, and barely useful...
"Democratic lawmakers hoping to prevent another foreclosure
crisis have approved a series of homeowner-friendly bills in the Assembly, but those measures
face tougher prospects as they head to a key Senate
committee today," reports Edwin Garcia in the Merc News.
"Resistance is strong from moderate Democrats in the
upper house, who tend to be more supportive of business
interests than their Assembly counterparts, and Republicans,
who dislike the notion of regulation. Opposition also
is vigorous from the high-powered California Mortgage Association, which has
spent as much as $100,000 this legislative session to convince lawmakers that
the measures will backfire on homeowners.
"The package of seven bills, among other steps, would
ban so-called stated-income loans, tighten the rules on which borrowers
can get subprime loans, and require lenders to give
borrowers a summary of key loan provisions in both
English and the language the deal was negotiated in.
"'Based on the preview of the analysis we've seen, and based on the industry opposition,' said Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-El Segundo, author of the most comprehensive of the
bills, 'we absolutely believe it will have a more difficult
time in the Senate.'
"Legislative sources said they were told the Senate
Committee on Banking, Finance and Insurance is likely
to reject several of the measures. Committee Chairman
Mike Machado, D-Stockton, a city hard hit by foreclosures, was in meetings
Tuesday afternoon and unavailable for comment."
"Citing privacy concerns, the Assembly Health Committee
unanimously voted down legislation Tuesday that would
have allowed pharmacies in California to partner with
drug companies to send out letters reminding patients to refill
their prescriptions," writes Aurelio Rojas in the Bee.
"Privacy advocates charged that Senate Bill 1096 by Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, would have opened the door for pharmaceutical
companies to promote their products in the guise of
the reminder letters.
"The bill was sponsored by Adheris Inc. The Massachusetts
medical information company is facing an invasion of
privacy class-action suit that alleges some practices the legislation
would have made legal.
"Calderon, who has received more than $21,000 in campaign contributions from pharmaceutical companies
and pharmacy chains, told the committee the bill was
inspired by the death of his mother, who suffered a
stroke after failing to take her medication."
"One of the activists who have perched in a grove outside
UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium for the past year and a half was
hauled out of her tree Tuesday, as the university began removing tree-sitters' gear in advance of a judge's ruling that could lead to a climax in the long-running protest," write Demian Bulwa and Charles Burress in the Chron.
"The tree-sitter was taken down by two arborists who were part
of a crew hired by the university to remove wooden
platforms, pulley systems and other infrastructure
that the protesters have built high above the ground
as part of their effort to keep the university from
cutting down trees to make way for an athletic training
center.
"Other protesters said they knew the woman taken out
of a tree at 4:30 p.m. only as "Millipede." Doug Buckwald, director of a group called Save the Oaks, said she
was an experienced tree-sitter but did not know how long she had been in the
branches.
Experienced tree-sitter? Do you put something like that down on a resume?
"The two arborists were in a cherry-picker that banged into the trunk of the tree where
the woman was perched, Buckwald said. "She screamed, and they grabbed her," he said.
"As many as a dozen tree-sitters were still in the branches, 12 hours after the crew of arborists guarded by about
40 UC police officers showed up to start removing the
activists' gear.
"The university started the operation one day before
an Alameda County Superior Court judge was to release
a ruling on a lawsuit filed by the city, tree advocates
and a neighborhood group seeking to block construction
of the training center."
"The city of Sacramento will ask voters to agree to pay local taxes on new
technology such as text messaging and phone service
offered over the Internet in exchange for lowering taxes for land-line phones and other utilities," reports Terri Hardy in the Bee.
"On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously voted to put
a measure on the Nov. 4 ballot that would decrease the utility users tax from
7.5 percent to 7 percent. It would require a simple majority to pass.
"Two main factors are driving the action: First, the city's ability to collect taxes on cell phones and other
communications methods is facing legal challenges.
Second, taxes on old technology, such as regular telephones,
are generating less revenue.
"'We believe the voters, not the courts, should decide
the fate of this revenue stream,' said Russ Fehr, city treasurer.
Hmmm, tell that to the proponents of Proposition 22...
"The city is calling the proposed ordinance the 'Utility User Tax Reduction and Fairness Measure for
Communications Services.'"
And finally, in sports news, the Lakers apparently
failed to make the trip to Boston for Game 6, and Reuters reports that China is taking olympic preparedness to heart. "As it readies for an influx of visitors for the August
Games, the Chinese capital has offered restaurants
an official
English translation of local dishes whose exotic names and
alarming translations can leave foreign visitors frustrated
and
famished.
"If officials have their way, local newspapers reported
on
Wednesday, English-speaking visitors will be able to order 'beef and ox tripe in chili sauce,' an appetiser, rather than 'husband and wife's lung slice.'
"Other favourites have also received a linguistic makeover.
"'Bean curd made by a pock-marked woman'", as the Beijing
Youth Daily rendered the spicy Sichuanese dish, is
now 'Mapo
tofu.' And "chicken without sexual life" becomes mere 'steamed
pullet.'
Either way, being the chicken doesn't sound like much fun.
