The Los Angeles City Council voted to ban new fast
food restaurants in South Los Angeles, and Ronald McDonald
responded by giving the city a swift kick in the rear end.
Judge Judy was not amused...
Meanwhile, another day passed with promises of behind
the scenes negotiations on the budget, and the governor
and controller playing "no you can't--yes I can."
Daniel Weintraub writes that the increasing volume of the debate likely
means a deal is near.
"It used to be said that state leaders couldn't get a budget deal until the temperatures in the capital
city topped 100 degrees. But since the coming of air conditioning,
that maxim no longer holds. Now it's more accurate to say that the opposing sides won't agree until everybody watching them pretty much concludes
that they are on the verge of a partisan meltdown.
"In other words, they're getting close to a deal."
Thank goodness.
Aside from not getting paid, what the heck are legislative
employees supposed to do now that Scrabulous has been taken down by the man.
"That's not the same as closing the deal. It's common for the party leaders to have the framework
of an agreement, even an outline of a new budget plan,
but then be stymied for days or even weeks over a disagreement
on details or some unrelated issue that a few legislators
want to include in the package in exchange for their
vote.
"One other thing we can be fairly certain of at this
point: The final
package will not solve the state's fiscal problems. Even with tax
increases and spending cuts, lawmakers and the governor
will probably
still be facing a potential deficit of billions of
dollars when they
convene in January, 2009 to do this dance all over again."
Happy happy joy joy.
"[U]ntil legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agree
on a new budget, thousands of companies doing business with the state
are getting stiffed," writes the Bee's Steve Wiegand.
"Under various state laws and constitutional provisions,
the controller is prevented from paying vendors for
goods and services provided after July 1, when the state's new fiscal year begins.
"Knowing that, said Hallye Jordan, spokeswoman for Controller
John Chiang, state departments and agencies don't even bother to forward claims and invoices for July.
"'If they did send us a claim,' she said, 'we'd just send it back unopened.'"
"Attorney General Jerry Brown is trying to stack the deck against a November ballot
measure barring same-sex marriage by declaring in his formal ballot description
that it "eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry," sponsors of the initiative charged in a lawsuit Tuesday," reports Bob Egelko in the Chron.
"Backers of Proposition 8 argued that they are not trying to eliminate anyone's rights but are simply seeking to restore the definition
of marriage that existed in California before May 15, when the state Supreme Court struck down the law
defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
"Brown, whose office prepares the title and summary
of each measure on the state ballot, chose wording
for both that is "inherently argumentative and highly likely to create
prejudice" against Prop. 8, attorney Andrew Pugno said in the suit, filed in Sacramento County Superior
Court.
We're guessing that was the idea...
"The suit asks a judge to order a different title, such
as "Limit on Marriage," the wording in the initiative petitions that 1.2 million registered voters signed to place the measure
on the Nov. 4 ballot. Pugno said the judge could also delete Brown's heading and use the measure's brief text as its title: 'Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or
recognized in California.'"
Dan Walters slams Jerry Brown for playing politics with the initiative
title.
"Brown's action faces a legal challenge whose outcome is uncertain,
but regardless of how that fares, it's a pretty cynical act. A referee shouldn't misuse the rules of the game to favor one side over
the other . If he does, the outcome will carry an asterisk
of illegitimacy."
Meanwhile, "Pacific Gas and Electric Co., California's largest investor-owned utility, has contributed $250,000 to defeat a ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage in the state, it was announced Tuesday," writes Aurelio Rojas in the Bee.
"Businesses often steer clear of ballot measures that
deal with social issues for fear of alienating customers.
"But PG&E officials said the San Francisco-based company's effort to defeat Proposition 8 on the Nov. 4 ballot is consistent with its long-time advocacy of equality for all.
"Geoff Kors, a member of the No on 8 campaign committee, said the campaign is "thrilled to partner with PG&E to ensure that the laws of our state are not used
to treat people unfairly."
"Jennifer Kerns, a spokeswoman for the Yes on 8 campaign, said campaign officials were not surprised
by PG&E's announcement.
"'As a heavily regulated monopoly in California, PG&E can make decisions such as this without regard to
their customers or fear of boycott,' Kerns said."
"Indian gambling interests are concerned that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants
to bring back Keno, a popular bingo-like game banned 12 years ago for violating state gambling law," reports Judy Lin in the Bee.
"According to a draft of the governor's lottery plan obtained by The Bee, Schwarzenegger
would propose a state constitutional amendment that
tribes say could override a California Supreme Court
decision that outlawed the game.
"'This attempts to walk right to the edge by trying to
preserve the tribe's revenue' while expanding the lottery, said attorney Howard
Dickstein, who represents the United Auburn tribe near
Sacramento. 'It's a bold and dramatic departure from the status quo.'
"Lottery Director Joan Borucki denied the state is trying to legalize Keno. She said
the language is intended to allow the lottery to hand
out fixed-prizes for lower-level jackpots in multistate games such as Mega Millions."
"The cost of new housing for San Quentin State Prison's growing number of Death Row inmates will exceed estimates by nearly $40 million, and the compound could run out of space soon after
it is completed, according to a state auditor's report released Tuesday," reports Matthew Yi in the Chron.
"The auditor's new $395.5 million price tag for the project, which is expected
to be completed by 2011, is new bad news for a state facing billions of dollars
in budget shortfalls. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and
the Democrat-controlled Legislature are still trying to hammer out
a spending plan for the fiscal year that began nearly
a month ago.
"California's prison system is already a big-ticket item, representing about 10 percent of roughly $100 billion general fund spending. And with severe inmate
overcrowding and claims of inadequate health care for
prisoners, a federal receiver appointed by a judge
in 2006 has asked the Legislature for an additional $7 billion to get the prison system to run adequately.
"'This is a giant black hole,' said Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, chairwoman of the Senate public safety
committee. 'It's a never-ending gravitational force that'll continue to suck away money that should be spent
on local government, education, health and human services
and higher education.'
"Seth Unger, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation, said the latest figures for the
San Quentin project are estimates at best. He added
that the report 'does validate that California needs a newly constructed,
modern facility to house our condemned inmate population.'"
"One of the state's top environmental officials embraced the idea [of banning plastic bags in California] Tuesday, citing the devastating impact on marine animals,
which die after ingesting plastic bags or becoming
entangled in them," writes Mike Zapler in the Merc News.
"Secretary of Resources Mike Chrisman is head of a cabinet-level panel - the California Ocean Protection Council - that is mulling over a list of proposals, including
the bag ban, to improve the health of the ocean. While
the panel has no power to impose such a prohibition,
its recommendation would give the idea a tremendous
shot of momentum.
"Other ideas under consideration include imposing fees
or regulations on producers of plastic food packaging,
another big contributor to ocean debris, and cracking
down on beach litter such as cigarette butts.
"'There is no question these kinds of steps are critical
if we're going to address the issue of marine debris in a
serious way,' Chrisman said in a statement.
"The notion of banning plastic bags is clearly spreading: Several cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles,
have adopted measures to severely restrict them. San
Jose officials are currently working with business
owners on a plan to phase them out. Plastic-bag use in Ireland has plunged 95 percent since that country adopted a tax on their
distribution in 2002, according to research conducted by the council."
The Chron's John Widermuth reports Californians may soon be able to register to vote online.
"The bill to allow online
registration, SB381, co-authored by state Sen. Ron Calderon,
D-Montebello, has rolled through the state Senate with
few complaints
and awaits final approval by the Assembly before going
to Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
"Arizona and Washington already have such systems, and
online
registrations there are surging. While would-be California voters now
can fill out the voter registration form online from
the secretary of
state's Web site, they must print the form, sign it and mail
it to
their county election office.
"Calderon's bill would computerize the entire process by allowing
the
secretary of state to replace the personal signature
with the digitized
signatures already online for people who have received
California
driver's licenses and identification cards.
Matier and Ross report the future's looking bright for Gavin Newsom.
"Author, spiritual healer and "intuitive consultant" Simone, who presided over the weekend wedding of San Francisco
Mayor Gavin Newsom and actress Jennifer Siebel, is predicting a very bright future for the city's first couple.
Although Simone (who long ago professionally dispensed with her first
name, Carol) says her psychic readings days are largely behind
her, she has come up with a few predictions:
On Newsom becoming governor: "I get a very positive energy about
that. It's clear this is something he would like to do and he
has a
very strong personality, and I feel he'll get it."
On Newsom and Siebel having kids: "Definitely."
And on the chances of Newsom landing someday on a national
ticket?
"It's all up to him. The work he accomplishes within himself
will determine how far he goes," Simone said.
Funny, when we asked the Magic 8 Ball the same questions, it wasn't quite as positive...
And finally, some bad news for all you Internet daters out there. "A modern-day love story of a man
spotting the girl of his dreams across a New York subway
train
and tracking her down over the Internet has failed
to have a
fairytale ending with the relationship over.
For Web designer Patrick Moberg, then 21, from Brooklyn, it
was love at first sight when he spotted a woman on
a Manhattan
train last November. But he lost her in the crowd so
he set up
a website with a sketch to find her --
www.nygirlofmydreams.com.
But after finding each other, appearing on TV and getting
international press, the couple took their romance
out of the public eye, with Moberg closing down the
Web site and with both
refusing to making any more comments -- until now.
Hayton told Australian newspaper The Sunday Telegraph
that
she dated Moberg for about two months but it just didn't work
out.
"I say we dated for a while but now we're just friends,"
Hayton, now 23, told the newspaper. "It's really nice that
people embraced the story. It is part of my life now."
