The Weekly Roundup

Burkle bites back, Busby busts out, Angelides dogs himself

Thursday, April 6
As if you needed another way to waste some time, Capitol Weekly today
launched Phase Two of its online state-salary database. The searchable
database provides hours of entertainment for the entire family, and now not
only includes legislative employees, but also executive-branch workers as
well! You can check out the site for yourself at
www.capitolweekly.net/salaries/index.html.

Friday, April 7
First the state takes away our lead, now Alameda County is taking away our
marijuana. Candy eating will never be the same. “Alameda County’s Board of
Supervisors moved a step closer to enacting a ban on pot-flavored candy this
week, voting 4-0 to ban the treats in unincorporated areas of the county. A
final vote to enact the ban is scheduled for Tuesday. If approved, the ban
would go into effect 30 days later.”

Saturday, April 8
Allegations surfaced today that a New York Post gossip columnist Jared Paul
Stern sought to extort more than $200,000 from would-be publisher Ron
Burkle. The FBI videotaped him allegedly offering “to protect Burkle from
damaging coverage in the Post’s popular Page Six column,” reports the LA
Times. “The reported price: payments that would amount to $220,000 over the
span of a year. People familiar with the investigation said Stern made the
offer at two meetings with Burkle, who had protested a series of Page Six
items, one of which described him as a ‘party-boy billionaire.'”

Burkle is among those bidding to buy several former Knight-Ridder papers
that were purchased by the McClatchy Co.

Sunday, April 9
From our If You’re Going to San Francisco files, you might want to check the
security at your local wireless Internet hot spot. This dispatch from the SF
Chronicle was enough to make us want to stay in the office a little longer:
“A San Francisco finance manager stopped in at a Mission District cafe and
was tapping on his laptop as he enjoyed his coffee just before noon on a
Thursday. Suddenly, he was under siege.

“‘I looked up, and I saw this guy leaning into me as if he was asking a
question,’ he said. ‘I leaned forward, and out of the corner of my eye I saw
someone fiddling with the computer cord. I tried to stand up, and as I
stepped back, he stabbed me in the chest.’

“The attack marked a violent turn in a wave of crime that has hit the
city–the ‘hot spots’ frequented by wireless laptop users are becoming hot
spots for laptop robberies.”

Monday, April 10
Today begins Environment Week in Schwarzenegger Land, with the governor
unveiling a new political ad focused on the environment, and preparing to
unveil his climate-control plan in San Francisco. “But as Schwarzenegger
hopes this year to woo moderate Democrats and independents by touting his
green credentials, Democratic lawmakers and environmentalists are preparing
to force Schwarzenegger to back up his tough rhetoric on greenhouse gases by
sending him first-of-its-kind legislation that goes further than anything
the governor has so far called for,” the SF Chronicle reports.

Tuesday, April 11
Voters went to the polls in San Diego and Orange counties today to elect a
new member of congress and a new state senator. In San Diego, Democrat
Francine Busby was the top overall vote-getter, and will face off against
former Rep. Brian Bilbray in a June runoff. As of this writing, Assemblyman
Tom Harman was clinging to a 500-vote lead over Dana Point Councilwoman
Diane Harkey in Orange County.

Wednesday, April 12
In a neat rhetorical twist, Phil Angelides, the man who once touted his
litany of party endorsements, is now calling himself the underdog. “‘Look, I
think I’m the underdog in this race right now,’ Angelides said in a
breakfast meeting with the The Bee’s Capitol Bureau. ‘I’m being outspent
dramatically on TV and will be all the way to the finish line.'”