The Weekly Roundup

Thursday, May 11
“Saying more role models could help reduce the social estrangement and high
suicide rates of gay and lesbian students, the state Senate voted Thursday
to require that the historical contributions of homosexuals in the United
States be taught in California schools,” reports Jordan Rau in the L.A.
Times.

“‘Even though we passed an anti-harassment bill seven years ago, it’s still
pretty obvious that there’s a hostile environment for kids who are gay or
lesbian–or even thought to be gay or lesbian,’ said Sen. Sheila Kuehl
(D-Santa Monica), the bill’s author and one of six openly gay legislators.
‘Part of that stems from the fact that nobody reads about any positive
examples.'”

The bill is expected to pass the Assembly, and then it’ll be a nice
election-year quandary for the governor.

Friday, May 12
Today was Revise day, and the governor decided to give big bucks to
education. Schwarzenegger announced his $131 billion budget revision today,
opting to pay down the state’s debt, give billions back to public education
and set aside more than $2 billion in the state’s reserve, the largest such
set-aside since the late 1970s.

Saturday, May 13
The federal government ordered California to give back more than $500,000 in
federal-election funds, saying former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley
misused the money when he was in office. In a written statement, current SOS
Bruce McPherson said, “I am pleased that this chapter of California’s
history is today a step closer to being behind us.”

Sunday, May 14
Advocates and opponents of universal preschool hit the airwaves as the
campaign for and against Proposition 82 began.

Monday, May 15
The L.A. Times takes a look at the close relationship between Schwarzenegger
and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

“The Democratic mayor has found plenty of common ground in recent months
with California’s Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The two have
struck an improbable relationship that could yield a windfall for Los
Angeles and boost the fortunes of two of California’s most politically
dynamic figures.”

“‘We genuinely get along,’ Villaraigosa said of Schwarzenegger during a
break from a packed schedule of meetings with legislators. ‘He’s been very
supportive of my administration.'”

“Perhaps most intriguing of all, each would stand to benefit from
Schwarzenegger winning reelection in November. The governor, of course,
would gain four more years in office. His departure in 2010 because of term
limits would open the door to Villaraigosa as a potential front-runner for
the job–a prospect that could vanish if one of Schwarzenegger’s current
Democratic opponents, state Treasurer Phil Angelides or Controller Steve
Westly, wins in November.”

“And so for now Villaraigosa and Schwarzenegger are cooperating, at least
publicly, in a gambit to advance their mutual interests, analysts say.”

Tuesday, May 16
Finally, when we need a good lesson in the citizenry’s right to protest
government, where better to turn than a brewery? “[W]hen Lagunitas Brewing
Co. founder Tony Magee decided to go public with his protest against state
alcohol regulators, he naturally chose the medium he knows best.”

“The result is Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale, a new ‘especially
bitter ale’ brewed to commemorate a bust at a brewery party last year and a
subsequent 20-day suspension of its state brewing license.”

“The label doesn’t quite say it all–it omits details of a two-month
undercover investigation into smoking pot at weekly tasting parties and how
said gatherings violated a city of Petaluma use permit–but it says enough to
convey Magee’s resulting defiance and disgust.”

“A 149-word, libertarian-leaning polemic, written in tiny type at the edge
of the label, declares: ‘From the first day of the first congress at the
moment of the passage of the first law, we became weaker.'”

“The extra-large B. Franklin said it well that you can tell the strength of
a society by the paucity of the pages in its’ (sic) book of laws–Tax law,
civil law, criminal law, Statues and Bills. Laws that make large and small
criminals of us all.”

“Elsewhere, the label warns the drinker: ‘Alc. 10.1% by Vol.'”

Wednesday, May 17
A hotel security guard has filed a battery complaint against L.A.
Councilwoman Janice Hahn during a demonstration Friday.

“To press her support for the workers, Hahn led a group of the suspended
employees and labor activists on a march into the hotel Friday afternoon.
While on the march, the workers passed through a barricade onto hotel
property, then pushed past hotel security officers to enter the hotel.”

“One of those officers, Amilcar Sanchez, filed a battery complaint with the
Los Angeles Police Department, LAPD officials confirmed Tuesday.”
“Sanchez alleged in an interview that Hahn struck him with a fist and
elbowed him hard as she and the crowd pushed past him.”

“‘I was hit in the chest and upper arm, and it was her,’ Sanchez said,
adding that three other demonstrators also made physical contact with him.”

It takes a real man to admit you’ve been beaten up by a city councilwoman.