The Weekly Roundup

Assembly leadership announced; mares eat oats; Schwarzenegger eats crow

Thursday, September 7
From our Wilford Brimley Gone Wild files, AP reports “Santa Barbara County
sheriff’s deputies came across a bizarre encounter at La Purisima Mission in
Lompoc.

“Around midnight they found a 69-year-old Huntington Beach man … naked and
covered in oats. Deputies say the man had covered himself in olive oil,
rolled around in oats and allowed the horses at the mission to lick him
clean.

“He apparently told deputies this has always been a fantasy of his and drove
up from the Los Angeles area to play it out.”

Friday, September 8
The L.A. Times broke the story that would dominate the week, reporting on an
audiotape conversation between the governor, Susan Kennedy and other
advisers which got a little candid.

The Times’ Robert Salladay reports on the tape that questions Bonnie
Garcia’s ethnicity and compares George Plescia to a Stepford Wife.
Talking about whether Garcia is Puerto Rican or Cuban, the governor says,
“They are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in
them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it.” Press
conferences were called, apologies were made and a week of piddling stories
followed.

Saturday, September 9
From our Set It To Vibrate files: “Four prisoners in an El Salvador jail hid
cellphones, a phone charger and spare chips in their bowels so they could
coordinate crimes from their cells, prison officials said on Wednesday.

“The four men, all gang members, wrapped their phones and accessories in
plastic and inserted them into their rectums ‘far enough to reach their
intestines,’ Ramon Arevalo, director of the maximum security Zacatecoluca
prison, said.”

Sunday, September 10
“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was greeted with open arms Sunday at Allen
Temple Baptist Church, one of the city’s largest black churches, just days
after a furor erupted over his characterization of a Latina legislator as
hotblooded because of her black and Latino roots,” reports Martin Ricard in
the Oakland Tribune.

“But Schwarzenegger didn’t show up to apologize for his comments–as some
observers expected. Instead, he met with community leaders and applauded the
church for its work with youth in Oakland.

“And the Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr., pastor of the church, blasted those
who criticized the Republican governor for his remarks. In comments
published Friday,

Schwarzenegger described Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, as hotblooded, saying her Puerto Rican ethnicity makes her
passionate.

“‘So who’s upset because our governor referred to a fellow Republican
legislator as being dynamic because her blood was African American and Latin
American?’ Smith asked. ‘If the governor wants to say African-American blood
runs through her veins, that’s fine because I’m not ashamed of being who I
am. I’m not ashamed to say I’m black and I’m proud.'”

Monday, September 11
The Chron begins the hunt for the leakers, as does the CHP.
“California Highway Patrol officials have opened a criminal investigation
into ‘multiple’ breaches and illegal downloads by outside hackers into the
computers of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office, after an embarrassing
private taped conversation was leaked last week to the Los Angeles Times,
administration officials told The Chronicle.

“‘There is an investigation conducted by the California Highway Patrol on
how the tape obtained by the L.A. Times was acquired,’ said a senior
official who spoke on condition of anonymity. ‘This is a criminal matter
that has been turned over to the CHP.”‘

Tuesday, September 12
Finally, a break from the tape story. The governor signs Sally Lieber’s
minimum-wage bill, which will increase the state’s minimum wage to $8 per
hour, $1.25 above the current level. But all anyone wants to talk about is
that tape. Maybe because the Angelides campaign admitted today they were the
ones who gave the tape to the Times