Public Affairs / Politics
GOP Lawmakers Offer Ideas for Tackling Deficit
With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger set to unveil his revised budget next week, Republican legislators on Thursday announced a series of proposals they said would save money and help the state run more efficiently. Some of the ideas already have been rejected by Democrats. And even if they were adopted, the GOP proponents could not say how much they would save. The San Jose Mercury News
For Hillary Clinton, No 'clear Path to Victory' -- Nor to an Exit
She's darting around the country like a full-fledged presidential candidate, but within Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's circle of advisors and donors, the conversation has turned to how she can make a dignified exit from the race. Outwardly, Clinton operated Thursday as if the disappointing results from Indiana and North Carolina never happened. Los Angeles Times
Recall Fight May Turn Out to be a Plus For Denham
He denounced it as a political stunt and power play, but was the recall campaign against state Sen. Jeff Denham the best thing to ever happen to his political career? The upside for the Atwater Republican grew immensely this week when Senate leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, called off the campaign. Fresno Bee
Human Resources / Health & Safety
Central Valley Residents Poorer and Sicker Than State Average, Report Says
Central Valley residents lack doctors and other medical specialists, are more likely to die of diabetes and heart attacks, and face diminished well-being because of poverty, according to a sweeping report released Thursday. Researchers assessed more than two dozen health care indicators, from health insurance coverage and a shortage of physicians to infants' low birth weight and rising childhood asthma rates, and compared the indicators with the state average. The Sacramento Bee
$271 Million for Research on Stem Cells in California
California has awarded $271 million in grants to build 12 stem cell research centers in the state, even as one of the political rationales for the building program might soon disappear. The awards, announced here Wednesday, represent the largest chunk of money awarded at one time by California’s taxpayer-backed stem cell program, which is slated to spend about $3 billion over about a decade. The New York Times
Head Trauma Getting Attention
Military officials are rolling out programs in the county and nationwide to take on traumatic brain injuries, a signature casualty of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The projects are aimed at keeping hundreds of thousands of troops with brain trauma, including roughly 720 a year at Camp Pendleton, from slipping through the cracks. The San Diego Union-Tribune
Economy
House Passes Mortgage Rescue
The House on Thursday passed the most sweeping government plan yet to shore up the troubled housing market and help people struggling to pay their mortgages, adopting legislation that would underwrite $300 billion in new loans and keep an estimated 500,000 homeowners out of foreclosure. Backers contend the bill -- or something close to it --has a good chance of becoming law even though Senate Republicans have criticized it and the White House has threatened a veto. Los Angeles Times
Rising Fuel Prices are a Driving Force for Change - Away From Autos
When food and gasoline prices started climbing, Thomas Franklin started putting one foot in front of the other and -- the horror -- often walked where he needed to go. "My friends ask me what's wrong with me," said the 29-year-old talent agency scout, who recently sold his Ford Escape and bought a Vespa scooter. Los Angeles Times
Trade Deficit Narrowed in March, but Exports Fell
Demand for imports fell in March by the most since 2001, the latest indication that the economic slowdown has forced Americans to reign in their spending habits, the government reported on Friday. Americans shied away from buying imported automobiles, which fell 9.3 percent in March, and oil, which dropped 8.9 percent. It was the second consecutive month that crude oil imports had declined. The New York Times
Environment / Agriculture
Governor Meets with Automakers on Gas Emissions
In their first face-to-face meeting, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and automakers agreed yesterday to explore new cooperative approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions even as they duel in court and in Congress over just how far the state can go. During the closed-door meeting, Schwarzenegger and six top executives of the world's largest auto companies exchanged ideas that could take strategies to curb emissions beyond enacting tailpipe standards. The San Diego Union-Tribune
Bush Set to Veto $300 Billion Farm Bill
Administration officials have dashed hopes among farm-state lawmakers from both parties that President Bush will sign a nearly $300 billion farm bill that they finished Thursday. The veto warning sets up an effort by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, joined by many farm-state Republicans, to override a veto and defend government payments to farmers earning record incomes even as food prices soar. San Francisco Chronicle
Veggie Oil Burners get Burned by State's Regulatory Red Tape
Dave Eck, a Half Moon Bay mechanic, had attracted a media spotlight with his fleet of vehicles fueled by used fryer grease from a local chowder house. So when Sacramento called, he figured officials wanted advice on promoting alternative fuels. Not at all. The government rang to notify Eck that he was a tax cheat. Los Angeles Times in the San Francisco Chronicle
The Air Resources Board is working on a regulation that could affect more than 1.5 million diesel trucks and buses in California! Join the Driving Toward a Cleaner California Coalition today and find out what you can do to make sure CARB strikes the right balance between protecting our environment and our economy. For more information on what you can do, visit www.drivecleanCA.org.
International
High Prices for Staple Foods Dip, but Volatile Markets Persist
After months of startling increases, the prices of rice, wheat, soybeans and several other foods have come down recently, a development that could ease some of the panic in global food markets. Prices remain volatile and remarkably high by historical standards, and few agricultural experts expect the days of inexpensive food to return soon. The New York Times
Food Prices Push Mexico Inflation to 3-Year High
Spiraling world food prices pushed Mexico's inflation to a three-year high in April, reinforcing expectations the central bank will not cut interest rates to stave off the effect of a feared U.S. recession. Mexican consumer prices rose 4.55 percent in the 12 months through April, up from 4.25 percent in March, the central bank said Thursday. Reuters in The San Diego Union-Tribune
Europeans and British Leave Rates Unchanged
The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 percent on Thursday, saying that the region’s economy remained resilient despite nearly nine months of financial turmoil. Also Thursday, the Bank of England kept its benchmark rate at 5 percent, pausing to study the effects of three interest rate cuts it has made since Dec. 6. Both decisions were expected. The New York Times
Infrastructure / Education
State Senate Votes to Eliminate Entity Overseeing Delta Repair
The state Senate voted Thursday to end California's participation in a joint authority created eight years ago to rescue the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from collapse and resolve persistent water disputes. The bill, which goes to the Assembly, would disband the California Bay-Delta Authority. Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle
University Systems Prepare Fee Increases
California's two massive public university systems are preparing to raise student fees next week in response to anticipated cuts in state funding. The proposals call for basic undergraduate fees to rise by 10% at the 23-campus Cal State system and 7.4% at the 10-campus UC chain, officials said. Los Angeles Times
State senator Named to Run Community Colleges
State Sen. Jack Scott, the influential chairman of the Senate Education Committee, will take charge of the California Community Colleges system in January after an 11-year career in the state Legislature, it was announced Thursday. After a national search, the colleges' Board of Governors met in a closed session Tuesday and later announced the unanimous vote to select Scott, D-Altadena (Los Angeles County), as the system's 14th chancellor, overseeing the state's 109 community colleges. San Francisco Chronicle
Opinion / Editorial
Yeah, Thanks, Perata -- For Nothing, That Is
From the time it was instigated last summer, the effort to recall Sen. Jeff Denham has exemplified the worst of partisan politics. The only questions worth debating were the motives of Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, who funded and engineered this recall: Did he really think he could get a Democratic supermajority in the Senate by forcing Denham out? The Modesto Bee
An Unfortunate Ad-Lib
State Sen. Sheila Kuehl, long ago an actress on the 1960s television series "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," introduced a bill to force studios and other entities who own rights to motion pictures, television and radio programs to pay writers and other creative talent residuals based on a "fair market value" when the programs are sold or leased for further distribution. But the solution isn't government's clumsy, arbitrary, inherently market-perverting intrusion. The solution ultimately lies in the market, in freely negotiated agreements, such as the contract the Writers' Guild agreed to and now should live up to. Orange County Register
L.A. Misguided in Crackdown on Taco Trucks
A new chapter in an old and dreary story of political interference with the economic aspirations of low-income and/or immigrant Californians is unfolding in Los Angeles, whose county supervisors have voted to crack down on the horrendous crime of selling tacos. Claiming that "taco trucks," as they are known, pose some sort of vague threat to the health, welfare and safety of Angelenos, the supes have voted for new restrictions on their ability to provide local folks with cheap and tasty food. Dan Walters in The Sacramento Bee
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