California
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11:16 a.m.
Contains only posts that are ID'd as local content. An explanation. Want to help improve our local content filter? Add keywords here.
According to yesterday's SDUT , San Diego City Councilmembers have a slush fund similar to the County Supervisors. Called “infrastructure improvement funds,” these monies are leftovers in the budget from years past that they can spend as they wish. Lani Lutar, president of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, said there ought to be more disclosure on how and why the reserves are being s...
San Diego Politico - 10:11 a.m.
The Budget-Busting Peripheral Canal and the Three Big Lies by Dan Bacher The proposal to build a peripheral canal around the California Delta, overwhelmingly defeated by the voters in 1982, has been resurrected many times since then by politicians trying to curry favor with corporate agribusiness. In June 2007 Governor Schwarzenegger unveiled a new water bond proposal for a peripheral cana...
Sacramento For Democracy - 10:11 a.m.
By Dan Bacher Proposed government boondoggle would be 500 to 700 feet wide, with 1,300 foot right-of-way Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Senator Dianne Feinstein, corporate agribusiness and other supporters of the peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have carefully avoided discussing what an actual canal would look like, as......
California Progress Report - 6:09 a.m. - 2 clicks 
By Byron Williams Bernard Madoff stood in front of the judge just before receiving his sentence of 150 years for conducting the largest Ponzi scheme in history and read a personal statement. As he concluded, Madoff reportedly turned to the courtroom crowd, and said, "I am sorry," adding: "I know......
California Progress Report - 5:43 a.m. - 3 clicks
By David Dayen d-day I'm sure many political observers will laud this New York Times magazine article on California's crisis and the men and women who seek to solve it, but I found it oddly pedestrian. The profiles of the candidates reveal little of substance, and aside from displaying......
California Progress Report - 5:43 a.m. - 2 clicks
Fireworks at the end of the OB Pier are always good for a huge crowd. The beach, the pier, the surrounding blocks, the overlooking hilltops, and the cliffs are packed. It seems like the whole world comes to OB for the fireworks every 4th. And why not? They're great! To capture this part of the end of the world, Jeff Stone took these last night up at the top end of Del Monte Avenue. Some peopl...
OB Rag - Sun 1:10 p.m. - 2 clicks
Who are the watchdogs who have published the recent San Diego Union-Tribune series on the topic of City worker pay? The series and the links to individual employee names and compensation are published under the rubric of "Watchdog report." The names of U-T staff writer Eleanor Yang Su, and staff data specialist Agustín Armendariz are the attributed authors, but a web search provided some insight ...
OB Rag - Sun 1:10 p.m. - 2 clicks
by Rafael while CHSRA continues to face widely publicized opposition in the SF peninsula , there is active competition for the alignment that the phase 2 spur from LA Union Station to San Diego will follow. We already discussed the ROW issues in an earlier post . The Riverside Press-Enterprise explains that the City of Riverside is competing with the much smaller City of Corona for a sta...
California High Speed Rail Blog - Sun 1:09 p.m. - 2 clicks
The Seaweed Rebellion North Coast Enviros Battle Schwarzenegger and Big Green Over MLPA by Dan Bacher A group of 70 people, including environmentalists, seaweed harvesters, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, abalone divers, and Native Americans, gathered at the city hall in Point Arena on Saturday, June 13 to begin the “Seaweed Rebellion” to halt or at least slow down the corr...
Sacramento For Democracy - Sat 9:25 p.m. - 8 clicks
THE JETTY IS STOPPED There was definitely turmoil in OB the summer of 1970. For a number of weeks during those hot days, OB residents used a combination of direct action and legal moves to battle efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers and the City to construct a jetty parallel to the southern edge of the San Diego River channel — next to what is now Dog Beach. Many locals viewed the jetty as a pr...
OB Rag - Sat 10:26 a.m. - 7 clicks
A democracy, theoretically at least, would build schools to fit children, not the other way around. We would not bend and break children until they fit as cogs in a mindlessly menacing machine, automatons without the ability to think clearly or feel deeply. We would resist—because we do not want the… Source: blogs.ssrc.org ...
yaman's amateur ramblings - Sat 12:41 a.m. - 2 clicks
It's just not fair to say we don't celebrate patriotism in San Francisco. Check out this display! San Francisco writer Tamim Ansary explains what it means to him to be an American in West of Kabul, East of New York. Growing up bicultural is like straddling a crack in the earth. If the cultures are far apart -- like those of Afghanistan and America -- one feels an urge to get e...
Happening-Here - Sat 12:41 a.m. - 2 clicks
That's one way to look at the news that the California High Speed Rail Authority board has a new chair and vice-chair, and they're both from Anaheim. According to the press release : Earlier in the meeting, the Board elected Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle to be its chairman, replacing Judge Quentin L. Kopp who had served two terms as chairman. Former California Assemblymember Tom Umberg was elected...
California High Speed Rail Blog - Fri 3:22 p.m. - 4 clicks
Originally posted June 19, 2008 Last Saturday, June 14, 2008, the San Diego Union-Tribune ran two articles about Ocean Beach by Joe Tash, a freelance writer - the first on the town itself ("Seaside Village stays true to its activist past" - which can be found in the link inside...), and the second about OB's early developers. That got me remembering that the original OB Rag did a series about the...
OB Rag - Fri 12:59 p.m. - 5 clicks
Last weekend several of Amador Democrats took a raft trip down the Mokelumne River. Joining us was Dr. Ami Bera, 3rd Congressional District candidate. What a great time, and what a great cause. The trip was a benefit for the Foothill Conservancy and their effort to have the to have the Mokelumne River designated a [...]...
California Notes - Fri 11:23 a.m. - 6 clicks
July 1, 2009 Howard Posner, Chair and SMUD Board Members 6201 S St. Sacramento, CA 95817 Re: Status TANC Powerline Project Dear Board Members, The 30 June TANC/Navigant presentation before the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, and the Board’s reaction, indicates a significant likelihood that the transmission line project needs to be rethought or withdrawn entirely. The meeting d...
The People's Vanguard of Davis - Fri 6:59 a.m. - 4 clicks
by Natasha Minsker ACLU of Northern California Last week, Californians had their first opportunity to speak out about the state’s execution procedures at an official state hearing. Thousands made their voices heard and their message was clear: it is time for California to replace its costly and broken death penalty......
California Progress Report - Fri 6:59 a.m. - 4 clicks
By Dan Aiello California Progress Report Amidst the public budget hearings and closed door sessions last week the California Health Policy Forum highlighted the Department of Health and Human Services' continuing work on the plan to end California’s epidemic obesity. Key among the presented issues: How to fund future efforts......
California Progress Report - Fri 6:59 a.m. - 2 clicks
by Jack O’Connell Superintendent of Public Instruction California's voters – both those who voted and especially those who did not – made their voices heard in the May 19 special election on Propositions 1A-1F. But many politicians in Sacramento mistakenly seem convinced that the election results were a clear call......
California Progress Report - Fri 6:59 a.m. - 4 clicks
The Vanguard has learned from sources close to the situation that a deal is close that would bring a Grocery Store to West Lake after the shopping center has been absent a grocer for over three years since Food Fair closed in May of 2006. The Vanguard had previously reported the deal between the Delanos Grocery Store Chain and the owners of Westlake to be dead after the owners pulled their fina...
The People's Vanguard of Davis - Fri 6:04 a.m. - 5 clicks
It was a busy second day of the new fiscal year at the printing facility tucked inside a quiet business park in a shaded east Sacramento neighborhood. But unlike most days, they weren't printing thousands of checks paid by the state of California. This time, they were printing documents that aren't worth anything. [...]...
Capital Notes - Fri 12:19 a.m. - 4 clicks
By Rebecca Bowe The saga of one of the biggest development battles in San Francisco took an unexpected turn today when Gap, Inc. founder and billionaire Don Fisher announced that he would back off from his plans for a private art museum in the Presidio. The proposed 100,000 square foot museum sparked widespread public outrage, with critics charging that it was an inappropriate location that ...
SFBG Politics Blog - Thu 6:25 p.m. - 5 clicks
Statement of Kevin Keenan, Executive Director, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties Regarding Sheriff’s Department Handling of Cardiff House Party for Congressional Candidate Francine Busby On Friday, June 26, 2009, according to press reports and witness statements , a San Diego County Sheriff ’s deputy, responding to a noise complaint, entered the home of Shari Barman...
San Diego Politico - Thu 6:25 p.m. - 7 clicks
Solar energy has been in the spotlight a lot lately and its future looks bright - take this story in today's Sacramento Bee, for instance, which reports that the state's solar power industry is rebounding : The source of the sunny news is the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which just issued its first annual program assessment of the California Solar Initiative (CSI) to the state ...
California League of Conservation Voters - Thu 4:04 p.m. - 10 clicks
Photo by Steve Rhodes. California may be going broke -- and a lot of good people are fighting to save the valuable functions of government from Republicans who refuse to tax themselves, ever, for anything but prisons. But amidst it all, several friends of mine were part of overwhelming a committee the other day on another important topic: the death penalty. The LA Times captures the ...
Happening-Here - Thu 3:13 p.m. - 4 clicks
By Steven T. Jones Progressives aren’t feeling much joy over the city budget deal that was cut yesterday between Mayor Gavin Newsom and Sups. David Chiu and John Avalos (respectively the board president and chair of the Budget Committee), and that’s not just because it gave the gubernatorial candidate the chance to shamelessly crow, “The contrast is stark, isn't it? In Sacramento, it's a s...
SFBG Politics Blog - Thu 2:21 p.m. - 5 clicks
Text and video by Sarah Phelan 83 year-old Minerva Dunn demands a total and unrestricted cleanup of Hunters Point Shipyard, not a cap, shortly before police use bull cutters to remove her from a giant stop-work order that she and other activists have chained themselves to, in an effort to blockade the former naval station''s main entrance in San Francisco. ...
SFBG Politics Blog - Thu 1:44 p.m. - 3 clicks
This image is about to get a makeover: That's the map of the USDOT HSR corridors. One corridor that's not there is Los Angeles to Las Vegas. That is changing today : The U.S. Transportation secretary will announce today the designation of a federal high-speed-rail corridor between Las Vegas and Southern California, a major assist that enables the long-imagined train route to compete for $8 ...
California High Speed Rail Blog - Thu 1:25 p.m. - 14 clicks
One proposal from Governor Schwarzenegger to find money to close the budget gap is deeper cuts to education. The Governor proposes suspension of California’s minimum funding guarantee for schools, Proposition 98. Below are reactions from the current State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and from one of the people who hopes to replace him. From SPI [...]...
California Notes - Thu 12:24 p.m. - 18 clicks
By Randy Bayne You gotta love Noreen Evans, Chair of the Budget Conference Committee. While Governor Schwarzenegger has been lying to the people of California, Evans has consistently held the line – along with Senate President Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass – honestly seeking the best possible resolution to the budget crisis. Make [...]...
California Notes - Thu 12:24 p.m. - 24 clicks
by David M. Greenwald Editor California Progress Report An Op-Ed by the San Jose Mercury news on Wednesday blasted Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger for needlessly pushing the state over the edge. Today, Controller John Chiang will begin handing out IOUs to state workers and to vendors of the state. As Controller......
California Progress Report - Thu 7:07 a.m. - 10 clicks
By Cynthia Craft Health Access California As July 1st hits, a budget fix for California is apparently nowhere in sight. So how is this year different from years past? Besides the alarming $24 billion hole in California's budget, we seem to have a different Governor. As recently as 2007-08, Gov.......
California Progress Report - Thu 7:07 a.m. - 9 clicks
By Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), Chair of the Budget Conference Committee (Originally posted on Evans’ budget blog at http://californiabudget.blogspot.com/) Today, the governor held a press conference that reminded me of the phrase “everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts.” As was expected, the governor......
California Progress Report - Thu 6:41 a.m. - 9 clicks
The July meeting of the California High Speed Rail Authority board is tomorrow morning at 10 AM in Sacramento at the city council chambers. You can find the meeting materials here . The meeting will be streamed live at this link (kudos to the Authority for putting that together!). The agenda includes a discussion of project phasing, an update on HSR stimulus funding and pending legislation in ...
California High Speed Rail Blog - Wed 6:15 p.m. - 5 clicks
Peripheral Canal: Panama Canal North? Proposed government boondoggle would be 500 to 700 feet wide, with 1,300 foot right-of-way by Dan Bacher Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Senator Dianne Feinstein, corporate agribusiness and other supporters of the peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have carefully avoided discussing what an actual canal would look like, as ...
Sacramento For Democracy - Wed 4:48 p.m. - 8 clicks
Since becoming an almost international incident , the stolenization of our beloved Guardian van has finally, breathlessly come to an end. It was found by the SFPD this morning on the 100 block of 25th Ave in the Richmond. It was merely stripped of its ignition. Thanks to all who kept an eye out! Now we can go back to delivering fresh brownies to all! UPDATE: According the Scav...
SFBG Politics Blog - Wed 3:39 p.m. - 4 clicks
The battle over California's gaping budget hole is probably going to get more intense before it ends... as just about everyone thinks someone else is to blame. Actually, the title of the posting isn't quite true (though an homage to a great song); it appears the state budget gap grew overnight to $25.3 billion, after a [...]...
Capital Notes - Wed 3:38 p.m. - 5 clicks
The LA Times and Next 10 have each come out with an application to let you balance California's budget. If you've ever wondered what's really in it, and what the process is like, this is your chance. You've got a $24 billion deficit. Do you resolve it by cutting programs or raising taxes? And how much of each? The programs are great, but even if you figure out a budget you're satisfied with, they ...
California League of Conservation Voters - Wed 3:38 p.m. - 6 clicks
By Steven T. Jones It’s fitting that the just-posted New York Times Magazine profile on how colorfully fucked-up California is right now leads with our own Mayor Gavin Newsom, both with his words and image. The most telling paragraph is the second one, describing Newsom’s initial confusion over an emergency call button on his desk: “Newsom says he has not had occasion to press the but...
SFBG Politics Blog - Wed 2:24 p.m. - 9 clicks
While the Assembly debates budget fixes, and Governor Schwarzenegger continues to sit idly by watching California drown in the bathtub, inside the capitol, outside public employees and their supporters are rallying to try and convince the Governor and Republicans to be responsible. ...
California Notes - Wed 2:15 p.m. - 16 clicks
That’s the question Lt. Governor John Garamendi posed to President Obama during the President’s online health care town hall. Here is the whole question. “Mr. President, I’m Lt. Governor John Garamendi from California. Thank you so very much for your leadership on this crucial issue for America. Mr. President, we actually solved this problem 41 years [...]...
California Notes - Wed 2:15 p.m. - 4 clicks
By Dan Aiello California Progress Report A protest by approximately 250 Medi-Cal enrollees and healthcare providers Tuesday, one of four demonstrations to besiege the state capitol steps, marked the death knell for the first eight Medi-Cal services slated for elimination, even as legislators struggle to reconcile new budget woes.......
California Progress Report - Wed 6:04 a.m. - 9 clicks
Here is what I suspect. It's obvious that Republicans are shutting the state down on purpose. I suspect they have a plan ready, and will launch a full-scale "shock doctrine" "solution" to the... ...
Seeing the Forest - Wed 12:04 a.m. - 10 clicks
A Few Thoughts on the Coup in Honduras It is impossible to imagine that the US was not aware that the coup was in the works. At minimum, the US could have flexed its tremendous economic muscle before the coup and told the military coup plotters to stand down. By Jeremy Scahill There is a lot of great analysis circulating on the military coup against Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. I do n...
Sacramento For Democracy - Tue 11:01 p.m. - 6 clicks
Text By Sarah Phelan Serpentinite rock with veins of naturally occurring asbestos Henry Alvarez, executive director of the San Francisco Housing Authority, acknowledges that a judge tossed out the unlawful detainer suit that the SFHA brought against the Nation of Islam’s Center for Self Improvement in the Bayview and its leader Minister Christopher Muhammad. “But the court left ro...
SFBG Politics Blog - Tue 6:46 p.m. - 5 clicks
This post originally appeared at Speak Out California. A recent large headline in the San Jose Mercury News got me thinking. The headline was, "A dire warning from the Governor". (Online... ...
Seeing the Forest - Tue 4:51 p.m. - 11 clicks
