"Senate Democrats
voted down a $4 billion water bond backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Republican allies, saying the two new reservoirs in the proposal were costly and wouldn't help repair the ecology of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta," reports Greg Lucas in the Chron.
The bond was defeated on a most non-post-partisan vote in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, but the governor vowed to soldier on at a quickly called Capitol press conference.
"'Yes, it has stalled now. But in the end I think the momentum in California is growing' to build new reservoirs, the governor told reporters after the vote. 'It takes time.'
"Democrats and environmentalists have opposed Schwarzenegger's water bond since he proposed it in his January State of the State speech. Among their criticisms is that feasibility and environmental impact studies for the two reservoirs aren't completed."
CW's John Howard reports on the
state's efforts to define terrorism, which has
spooked some civil liberties groups. Negotiations by Gov. Schwarzenegger and lawmakers to create a new California "security czar" drew fire from an unexpected quarter - the American Civil Liberties Union. But a tentative agreement has been reached on language that could resolve the dispute as early as today.
At issue is a provision in draft legislation that civil libertarians say offers a broad definition of terrorist activity which could lead to sweeping powers for state officials. As written, the bill defines terrorist activity as any activity that "involves an act that is dangerous to human life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure," violates any criminal law and "appears intended to intimidate or coerce the civilian population."
The Bee's Shane Goldmacher has
more on Morongo's $20 million campaign to persuade Democrats to support the tribal compacts negotiated with the governor. In addition to the television campaign, "[t]he tribe is sending 500,000 pieces of direct mail to the districts of 22 Assembly Democrats, including the Democratic members of the Governmental Organization Committee, the first panel that will consider the compacts, and members who voted against the deals last August.
"The tribe is paying for phone calls -- both automated and with live callers -- urging residents in those districts to support the compacts. The tribe is also paying for door-to-door canvassing in the districts of 10 Democrats -- those on the Governmental Organization panel."
"Legislation to provide most uninsured Californians with medical coverage
cleared its first legislative policy committee Tuesday -- without a price tag and with many other financial, political and legal hurdles to climb," writes the Bee's Aurelio Rojas.
"Nearly four months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rolled out his universal health care plan -- which has languished without an author -- the Assembly Health Committee approved a separate proposal by Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles.
"Assembly Bill 8 would cover the more than 700,000 children without insurance in the state, including illegal immigrants, and require most employers to contribute to their employees' coverage or a state insurance pool.
"But unlike the governor's proposal, the legislation would not require individuals to purchase insurance. Nor would it provide access for all the 6.5 million people in the state without coverage."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
has declined to meet with an attorney from Ecuador who asked for help in pressing a lawsuit that alleges environmental damage by Chevron Corp., a financial supporter of the governor," reports Peter Nicholas in the Times.
"The request for a meeting posed a dilemma for Schwarzenegger, who has been getting worldwide publicity for actions taken to protect the environment and curb global warming.
"Attorneys pitted against Chevron want the governor to return the political contributions he has received in recent years from the San Ramon, Calif.-based oil and gas company. They also want him to forgo future donations from the firm.
"Since the recall campaign in 2003, Chevron has given about $566,000 to the governor's campaign committees and causes, and donated $50,000 to help pay for his second inauguration. In June, Chevron gave $250,000 to the state Republican Party, which aired television ads promoting his reelection.
"On Tuesday, Schwarzenegger ducked a question about why he would not meet with the attorney,
Pablo Fajardo, and whether he would continue to take campaign money from Chevron."
In the run-up to the state's Democratic Convention, Speaker
Fabian Nuñez is set to announce his endorsement of Hillary Clinton, reports Bill Bradley.
“This is a great ‘get” for Hillary,” says a longtime friend of President Clinton and Senator Clinton of the 40-year old speaker. “Fabian Nunez is one of the brightest new figures in American politics. He is smart, he is charismatic, he is a leader on global warming, and he’s shown how to work across the aisle with a complicated guy like Arnold Schwarzenegger. What’s not to like?”
"Nuñez is one of the first major California Democrats to endorse in the early California presidential primary, which he, Governor Schwarzenegger, and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata worked successfully to move to February 5th next year. Only four much smaller states will vote before the Golden State next year: Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina."
Gavin Newsom has an unwieldy biker gang on his hands. But this is not
Marlon Brando in The Wild One affair, the
Hells Angels at Altamont report Matier and Ross. This is more your
Schwinn cruiser with a sissy bar type of menace, and it affect determine his political future.
"San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has a lot riding on the next Critical Mass bike free-for-all, with the basic question being whether he can control the city's streets come Friday night.
Newsom has ruled out any attempt to stop the rush-hour ride, contain its route or keep cyclists from their mass running of red lights."
"All the planning is being done in the hope of avoiding what happened during last month's edition of Critical Mass, when a confrontation between a minivan-driving mom and several riders ended with one of the cyclists
breaking her rear window with his bike. The Massers had accused her of bumping one of their number while she was stuck in the ride near Japantown.On the same ride, a limo driver reported having his hood dented by a cyclist wielding a bike lock.
Stories of the two incidents renewed long-simmering ill will between drivers, some of whom see Critical Mass as nothing more than anarchy, and
cyclists who feel they're targets of road rage every day."
And for those of you in the market for a vacation home, astronomers
have discovered a planet outside our solar system that is potentially habitable, with Earthlike temperatures, a find researchers described yesterday as a big step in the search for “life in the universe.”
The planet is just the right size, might have water in liquid form, and in galactic terms is relatively nearby at 120 trillion miles away. But the star it closely orbits, known as a “red dwarf,” is much smaller, dimmer and cooler than our sun.
