A Republican-led attempt to overturn the new state Senate districts that were drawn up by a voter-approved commission has completed a major move -- the GOP activists turned in hundreds of thousands of signatures to registrars across the state. Jean Merl in the LA Times has the story.
"But the next step — verification of those names by county elections officials — could take long enough to stymie the proponents' goal of getting new state Senate districts drawn by the state Supreme Court in time for next year's elections."
"Secretary of State Debra Bowen has said that vetting all the signatures could take until mid-March, after the Feb. 23 deadline for some candidates to file for the June primary. The timing could mean that the maps drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission would be used until voters could weigh in on the November ballot."
"The referendum would allow voters the final word on the Senate maps. Dave Gilliard, a consultant who oversaw the $2.5-million signature drive for a group called Fairness and Accountability in Redistricting (FAIR), said the activists believe the state's high court could act in time for the June elections. He said FAIR's attorneys believe current redistricting law gives the court the authority to create new maps once signed petitions for the referendum have been filed."
"We believe we have put in enough signatures to put the commission's lines on hold and there will be new lines in June and November," Gilliard said this week."
The strapped state is looking at a lot of ways getting cash, and apparently an idea that Gov. Brown turned down earlier in the year is trying to make a comeback -- the sale of state property, including major government office buildings.
The Bee's Kevin Yamamuratells the tale: "A British gaming company recently offered $1 billion to take over part of the California Lottery. Now a private investor group twice rejected by Gov. Jerry Brown is again pushing California to sell 11 office properties for $1.2 billion in immediate cash."
"The Democratic governor hasn't changed his mind on selling prime state real estate, such as the Earl Warren Building that houses the state Supreme Court in San Francisco."
"But with mid-year school cuts and an estimated $12.8 billion deficit on the horizon, California First LLC senses an opportunity."
"The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office panned the initial deal signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year. The state would have sold 11 properties to California First, five in the Sacramento region, then lease them back for at least 20 years."
The Occupy UC Davis group, which captured national attention after demonstrators were zapped with pepper spray a week ago, intend to camp out on the campus through the holiday weekend.
From Shelby Grad in the LA Times: "A lot of the tents that look the same have been donated by various people through the Internet," demonstrator Erica Rettig told Fox 40.
"Last week, UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi had ordered tents at the site to come down, leading to Friday's confrontation. But university Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter said Wednesday that police were acting against orders when they used pepper spray on students."
"Hexter said he had been in high-level discussions about the Davis encampment before police moved in, and "the chancellor and I and others in those discussions made it very clear that we wanted this to go forward peaceably."
"We definitely did not want a repeat of Berkeley, where batons were used," Hexter said. "We also discussed quite openly that, if the numbers were too large and the police chief felt that her force could not handle it peacefully, they were to disengage."
Investors and Oregon farmers could wind up getting a $250 million gift from California taxpayers in connection with a plan to remove four dams from the Klamath River, if the deal goes through -- and if voters approve a big water bond next year.
From the Bee's Dan Walters: "However, a big sticking point is its cost, about a billion dollars. Thompson and Merkley want the federal government to pay half, which is already drawing opposition in a Republican-controlled Congress. PacificCorp would pay about a quarter. The remaining $250 million?"
"The two legislators say it would come from "non-federal sources."
"They don't say that it would come from California taxpayers, specifically a $250 million chunk of the $11.1 billion state water bond that is scheduled to go before voters next year."
"And why should California taxpayers be on the hook?"
The dams' removal would have no effect, positive or negative, on our water supply. The semiofficial rationale – weak at best – is that improving fish runs on the Klamath would offset losses of habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
