"A bipartisan group of state lawmakers wants the California
Air Resources Board and 35 air districts statewide to provide details on how they are enforcing a state-mandated vapor-recovery system designed to reduce air pollution at
California gas stations," reports Mark Glover in the Bee.
Your Roundup editors want to know as well, after driving
to three different closed gas stations in Davis yesterday...
"The lawmakers, led by state Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, on Thursday released a letter sent to ARB
Chairwoman Mary Nichols, asking her to provide "a clear picture of what is happening in each of the
35 districts" by April 17.
"The deadline for the "enhanced vapor recovery" retrofit, a complex process started in 2000, became effective April 1. Last month, ARB estimated that 5 percent of about 11,000 California stations facing the deadline ultimately
would close, partly as a result of the estimated $11,000-per-pump cost."
We could use an "enhanced vapor recovery" retrofit around the Capitol.
"ARB has insisted, however, that the improved nozzles,
vapor processors and other equipment will eliminate
the daily release of up to 10 tons of smog-forming compounds that result from spillage and fumes
escaping at pumps.
"However, Cox and four other lawmakers said they are
concerned about the severity of fines being imposed
on stations not in compliance, the closing of other
stations and an accompanying loss of jobs."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the federal government for $5 billion to keep California schools from laying off
teachers, preserve programs and help students enter college," reports Nguyen Huy Vu in the Contra Coast Times.
"The state is one of the first to request federal stimulus
money from the U.S. Department of Education and could
receive $3.1 billion of that money for public schools and colleges
by fall."
The Fed giveth and the state taketh away...
"'We've taken steps to protect our schools from the full
brunt of our economic situation, and this funding will
restore many of the difficult cuts that had to be made
to education,' Schwarzenegger said in a statement Thursday.
"'I'm committed to passing it directly onto schools as
quickly as possible.'
"The news comes as state education officials announced
that K-12 campuses will receive another $1.2 billion in federal stimulus funds next month to help
pay for low-income and special-education students."
The Chron's Carla Marinucci reports: "There were two tax-related events in California on Thursday. One of them got a lot of publicity and the other
did not.
"The ballyhooed rally to start the recall drive against
GOP state Assemblyman Anthony Adams, one of three Assembly Republicans who voted for the
state budget, drew an anti-tax crowd of 15 people."
But they were fifteen angry teabaggers!
"Meanwhile, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's visit to the San Diego Food Bank, where he told low-income folks how to apply for tax credits in the recession,
drew 1,000 folks.
"What does this tell you?"
Apparently, the real rally was in the Inland Valley
Daily Bulletin.
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino and Joe Nelson report on
the official filing of the recall effort: "Atlas PAC, a Newport Beach-based political action committee, has led the campaign to recall Adams. The assemblyman went against his initial pledge to
his constituents when he voted for tax hikes, said
Lee Lowrey, co-chairman of the Committee to Recall Adams and chairman
of Atlas PAC.
"'He turns a complete 180 degrees and reneged on his tax pledge,' Lowrey said. 'It's like adding insult to injury.'"
Wait, which part was the injury?
"Like many of his fellow Republicans, Lowrey said the
issue surrounding the state budget crisis is a spending
problem, not a revenue problem, and that state elected
officials need to learn to spend within their means.
"'This is to send a message to the various elected officials
in the Legislature that the citizens will not take
kindly to increased taxes,' Lowrey said.
"Adams took issue with the group.
"'I think it's a shame that a Newport Beach political activist wants
to tell people in my district how they should vote,' Adams said. 'I feel very confident that we'll see a strong showing (against the recall).'
"San Bernardino County Republican Party is taking no
official position on the issue, said Upland Councilman
Kenneth W. Willis, the county party's newly elected chairman, who replaced Adams after
he recently stepped down."
You can hear more about the Adams recall, the governor's fundraising, and more in this
week's
Capitol Notes pocast.
John Myers looks at all of the people who are lording over the federal stimulus dollars coming into
the state.
"A key element of the federal stimulus package is also
oversight over how all those bucks are spent. The
administration of President Barack Obama has made it clear that proper use of the money is crucial.
"So who's watching the stimulus money in California? Everyone,
it seems. Last week, Schwarzenegger tapped Los Angeles city controller Laura Chick to be his stimulus inspector general, the first such
IG in the nation.
"With that, Chick became the fifth separate entity with some kind of mission
to account for how funds will be spent."
"O.J. Simpson's off the list, but singer Dionne Warwick, actor Burt Reynolds, actor-comedian Sinbad and a prominent Los Angeles developer still make this year's roll of California taxpayers with the largest delinquent
income tax bills," reports Rich Connell in the Times.
"This year's ranking includes 250 names. A few are famous or local notables, but most
are low-profile individuals and businesses. Together they owe
$143 million in back taxes, said Franchise Tax Board spokesman
John Barrett.
"The 2009 list includes Warwick, who owes $2.18 million, and Reynolds, who owes $225,000. Both of the obligations date to the 1990s, according to the board.
"Warwick's publicist, Kevin Sasaki, said in an e-mail that the singer has cooperated with the tax board
and that a payment arrangement is 'already in motion.'
Meanwhile, "[t]he California Teachers Association has deposited another $2.2 million into the campaign to pass Propositions 1A and 1B, bringing the group's total spending to nearly $5 million," reports Shane Goldmacher on Capitol Alert.
"The union also donated $350,000 to the umbrella campaign for all six measures on the
May 19 special election ballot.
"Proposition 1B would ensure repayment to schools of $9.3 billion starting in 2011. But it only goes into effect if Proposition 1A also passes. Hence the dual campaign."
And, a candidate for a Southern California Assembly
seat is torn between serving on a commission as a resident
of Los Angeles and actually living in the Assembly
district he's running for, as required under state law.
The LAT's David Zahniser reports: "[E]ven as he solicited donations for his run in the 50th District, [Ricardo] Lara continued to serve as one of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's appointees on the powerful Los Angeles Planning Commission,
where each member must be a city resident. No part
of Los Angeles is in the 50th District, which stretches from Commerce to Bellflower.
"Lara's dual activities -- planning commissioner in one community and political
candidate in another -- have drawn criticism from Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, the district's current representative who will be termed out in
2010.
"'If he's in L.A., he's not in my district,' De La Torre said. 'This is why people are so fed up with politics and
politicians. We're not a colony of Los Angeles or anywhere else. This
is a community that has . . . its own character and
has its own needs.'
"During a break in Thursday's Planning Commission meeting, Lara told The Times
that he would quit the nine-member panel at the end of the day. Lara said he currently
lives in Boyle Heights -- a neighborhood of Los Angeles -- but plans to relocate soon to the 50th District."
Lara is supported by former Speaker Fabian Nuñez, and this incident seems to be another chapter in
the still-evolving Nuñez vs. De La Torre feud, that dates back to Nuñez's time in the Assembly.
And four more political reports are hanging up their
pencils. The Merc's Mary Anne Ostrom is going to work for Meg Whitman's campaign, while the Chronicle's Zach Coile, who worked in the paper's Washington bureau, will be the new communications
director for Sen. Barbara Boxer. The Chron's venerable political reporter, John Wildermuth, is taking a buyout from the paper. And the Merc's Edwin Garcia is leaving the paper to write about health care for
the Kaiser Foundation.
Would the last one leaving turn out the lights before
PG&E does it for us?
And this being baseball's opening week, it seems only fitting to end with this.
AP reports,
"A Tampa Bay area high school
baseball coach has been temporarily relieved of his
duties while
authorities investigate the killing and burial of a snake on his team's
field. A Palm Harbor University High School second baseman
said the coach told the team last week that they were
"snake-bitten" and needed to stop their losing streak.
"So,
the student said, the team bought and killed a snake,
then buried it on
the field during the school's spring break. The coach wasn't present."
