"Three
federal judges on Wednesday forcefully rejected a Schwarzenegger
administration proposal to ease prison overcrowding , threatening to
impose their own plan for reducing the inmate population
if the state
does not submit an acceptable one within three weeks," Michael Rothfeld reports.
"The panel
said California officials had failed to comply with
their order to
produce a plan to pare the number of state prisoners
by 40,000 within
two years. The judges agreed to postpone a decision
on a request by
inmates' lawyers to hold Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in contempt
of
court for defying the earlier order, issued Aug. 4."
The decision yesterday just fit into Gov. Schwarzenegger's new narrative: blaming it on judges.
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura reports, "After railing
against labor unions, waste and fraud in the past,
Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger on Wednesday found a new target to blame
for
California's budget woes: judges who "are going absolutely crazy."
We see a reality show! But we digress...
"As
pieces of the July state budget solution begin to unravel,
the
Republican governor said judges – especially on the federal level – are
preventing California from solving its problems.
"He complained in
particular about judicial actions that have struck
down some state
worker furloughs, required reductions in the prison
population, imposed
restrictions on water delivery in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and
this week blocked cuts to in-home care services.
"They
are going absolutely crazy," Schwarzenegger said of judges. "So we have
to have a very serious conversation with the federal
government,
because they have to let us run the state."
Malcolm Maclachlan reports some lawmakers in both parties
are hardening their opposition to the water negotiations.
"Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Sacramento, and Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, don’t agree on much. But both are against the water plan
being negotiated between the Legislature and the governor
— and both think they have the votes to kill it.
"Their opposition stems from one thing they do have
in common. Each represents a district within the Sacramento-San Joaquin
River Delta, the water-rich region at the center of the water policy
and bond
package.
“Absolutely there is bipartisan opposition,” Niello said. “Lois’ concerns are not the same as mine, but she is nonetheless
every bit as opposed as I am.”
Capitol Weekly sneaks a peak at some of the measures that may be headed for the 2010 ballot.
"Sure, there is the measure to legalize marijuana that
could be on the ballot as early as June. And there
are the initiatives that get filed with the attorney
general’s office that will likely never actually be put before
voters. The “Freedom to Present Christmas Music in Public School
Classrooms Act” falls into the latter category.
"But over the last week, several legitimate, and controversial
initiatives with a real shot of making the November
2010 ballot have been filed . And more are likely on the
way."
John Howard reports one anti-labor union measure is back.
"A ballot fight looms over limiting the use of government
workers’ union dues for political purposes, a life-or-death issue for organized labor. Two similar initiatives
have been rejected in the recent past, including the
1998 battle over “paycheck protection” that ultimately played a significant role in the election
of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.
"A group of Orange County political players, led by
Irvine attorney Mark Bucher and Costa Mesa Mayor Alan
Mansoor, filed a pair of proposed ballot initiatives
with the state attorney general’s office for an official title and summary, the first
step to placing them on the ballot. One proposal would
bar public employee unions from deducting money from
a worker for political purposes. The second requires
a public employee union to get advance permission in
writing before deducting money for political activity."
Greg Lucas reports on some tension brewing between Jeff Denham and Sam Aanestad.
"Aanestad recently launched his
campaign. Denham’s view is that in instances where two senators are
running against each other, one should not be “favored” as he believes
Aanestad is with a seat on the upper house’s powerful Rules Committee.
"So Denham penned a letter seeking
support from his fellow Republicans for Aanestad resigning
from the
committee, a move, not surprisingly, Aanestad opposes.
"In a recent meeting of the GOP
caucus, Denham sought action on his request. Senate
Republican Leader
Dennis Hollingsworth of Murrieta said he wanted to deal with the issue
later, sources say.
"Denham sought a vote to, in
essence, override Hollingsworth and take up the Aanestad
issue. The
caucus voted 9 to 4 take the issue up, with Hollingsworth and Aanestad
representing half of the “no” votes.
"Then, again over the Republican
leader’s objection, a vote was taken on whether Aanestad should
resign
from the committee. The vote was 9 to 4 in favor of Aanestad’s
resignation. Despite the vote, he declined."
Mee-oww.
And finally, proof that people will buy anything. "A pile of hair believed snipped from Elvis Presley when he joined the U.S. Army in 1958 sold for $18,300 on Sunday, according to a Chicago auction house.
"The King's hair was one of up to 200 items of Elvis memorabilia
collected by the late Gary Pepper, who was the president
of the Tankers
Fan Club set up for Elvis fans."
Just asking: What do you do with a pile of hair?
