"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the time is right to debate legalizing
marijuana for recreational use in California," writes Wyatt Buchanan in the Chron.
"The governor's comments were made as support grows nationwide for
relaxing pot laws and only days after a poll found
that for the first time a majority of California voters
back legal marijuana. Also, a San Francisco legislator
has proposed regulating and taxing marijuana to bring
the state as much as $1.3 billion a year in extra revenue.
"Schwarzenegger was cautious when answering a reporter's question Tuesday about whether the state should regulate
and tax the substance, saying it is not time to go
that far."
After a deep breath and a few minutes of thought, however...
"But, he said: 'I think it's time for debate. I think all of those ideas of creating
extra revenues - I'm always for an open debate on it.'"
"A boutique San Francisco investment firm controlled by a prominent Sacramento
lobbyist is under scrutiny by New York's attorney general as part of a rapidly expanding national probe into
public pension fund corruption.
"Gold Bridge Capital LLC is 75 percent owned by Sacramento lobbyist Darius Anderson, who also owns the Platinum Advisors lobbying firm,
a major player in the state capital's influence world, financial industry registration
documents show.
"Last week, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he had issued more than 100 subpoenas to investment firms and intermediaries who
brokered multimillion-dollar deals with New York state public pension funds.
"The New York Times reported that New York officials
are scrutinizing one deal in which Gold Bridge acted
as placement agent for an unspecified investment in
the New York state pension fund.
"In September 2007, the New York State Retirement Fund disclosed that
Gold Bridge Capital was paid an unspecified "placement fee" for helping secure a $400 million investment by the pension fund in a real estate
equity fund managed by California real estate developer
and manager Terry Fancher."
"Los Angeles and other California cities and counties could see more than $2 billion in revenue stripped away by the state under a Schwarzenegger administration plan to trim
a ballooning new budget deficit," reports Eric Bailey in the Times.
"Administration officials Tuesday released a draft of
the plan, expected to siphon more than $300 million from the city and county of Los Angeles, just
two weeks before a special election on several ballot
measures the governor is pushing to help balance the
state's books.
"If those propositions fail, the state would probably
see a nearly $6-billion hole carved in a 2009-10 budget that is already facing a big deficit because
of plummeting tax revenue resulting from the economic
downturn, state finance officials say.
"Release of the document comes as backers of the ballot
package -- Propositions 1A-1F -- are playing up potential dire consequences if the
measures flop in the May 19 special election. The Yes campaign recently began
airing a TV commercial featuring a Los Angeles firefighter
warning of potential cuts in police and fire protection
if the measures go down."
Matthew Yi reports in the Chron: "With the election less than two weeks away, the governor
is "ratcheting up the discussion," said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University.
"Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he doesn't like to use scare tactics, but added, 'We owe it to the people of California to tell them
what the consequences are, so that they know.'
"Opponents of the measures criticized the governor for
his last-ditch efforts.
"'The governor's new ad and his rhetoric are full of misleading doomsday
scenarios,' said Mike Roth, spokesman for No on Prop. 1A. 'I think these are tactics designed to scare voters
into submission to vote for these measures.'"
Dan Walters is unimpressed with the governor's doomsday projections about the consequences of the ballot measures failing.
"This week's shameless scare tactics really tell us that Schwarzenegger
and his allies are scared, given the negative polling
results, that voters will reject the ballot measures
a fortnight hence."
Roberts and Trounstine go so far as to say a new wildfire might be just what the campaign needs. Literally.
"California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed said Tuesday he will ask the university's Board of Trustees next week to approve a 10% student fee increase for the coming school year.
"Speaking in a conference call with reporters, the Cal
State leader said the $306 annual hike, which the board is expected to approve,
was the only way to maintain the quality of education
in the face of what he called California's "economic meltdown."
"In other cost-cutting moves, Cal State had announced plans earlier
this year to shrink its 450,000 enrollment by 10,000 students, but Reed said Tuesday that officials, using
earlier deadlines and some changes in admission standards,
had managed to bring the number down by only 3,000 to 4,000.
"Reed also warned of possible layoffs and further cuts
to the 23-campus system if state budget measures 1A through 1E on the May 19 ballot should fail."
"The recall of Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams over his vote for new taxes has cleared another hurdle," reports Rebecca Kimith in the Whittier Daily News.
"After getting the thumbs up from the Secretary of State
on Monday, recall supporters began their signature
collection drive Tuesday.
"They have until Oct. 13 to submit at least 35,825 valid signatures from registered voters in the 59th Assembly District - 20 percent of voters in the last Assembly race.
"Recall supporters, which include former state Sen.
Dick Mountjoy, a Monrovia Republican, hope to submit the signatures
much sooner.
"'Our goal is to finish as far ahead of that deadline
as possible,' said recall co-chair and former GOP chairman Mike Schroeder."
And finally, from our Is That a Songbird in Your Leotard Files, "Sony Dong, 46, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport
in March after an inspector spotted bird feathers and
droppings on his
socks and tail feathers peeking out from under his
pants, prosecutors
said.
"'He had fashioned these special cloth
devices to hold the birds,' said U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek. 'They were secured by cloth wrappings and attached to
his calves with
buttons.'
"Authorities later linked Dong's scheme to Duc Le, who was arrested after investigators
searched his Orange County home and found 51 songbirds in an outdoor aviary . Both are charged
with conspiracy in an eight-count federal indictment."
The question, of course, is, 'Who's going to talk first?'
