California
$1.45 Billion in Relief for Electricity and Gas Ratepayers
Attorney General Bill Lockyer today announced state negotiators have finalized a settlement with El Paso Corporation that will provide $1.45 billion in relief to electricity and gas ratepayers, and help stabilize California's future natural gas supplies.
Jun 26, 2003, 21:22
National Do Not Call Program
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Senator Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, today announced the National Do Not Call Program will be up and running on Friday, providing Californians with protection against unwanted phone calls by telemarketers.
Jun 26, 2003, 21:17
Housing Enabled by Local Partnerships has reached $100 million Goal
Governor Gray Davis announced that the Housing Enabled by Local Partnerships (HELP) Program has reached its $100 million five-year business plan goal. HELP is California Housing Finance Agency's (CalHFA) award-winning program, that partners with California cities, counties, housing authorities, redevelopment agencies, community development commissions and others to address unmet affordable housing needs as determined by each participating locality.
Jun 25, 2003, 07:04
Davis Seeks to Shift Focus to Recall Backers
With the drive to oust him scrambling the state's political landscape, Gov. Gray Davis is mounting a campaign to shift voters' focus from himself to the Republicans who want to kick him out of office. In a CNN interview on Monday, Davis denounced the recall campaign as "partisan mischief by the right wing." His first appearance on national television to discuss the recall effort was a sign that Davis has begun to follow the advice of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat who has urged him to fight back more aggressively, said a person familiar with the matter.
Feinstein survived a bitter recall election in 1983 when she was mayor of San Francisco. Earlier this month, she called Davis and offered to help unite the Democratic Party behind his campaign against the recall. After phone calls from the senator, statewide officeholders — all Democrats — last week publicly backed Davis and denounced the recall. Feinstein did the same on Saturday.
Full story: LA Times
Jun 25, 2003, 06:52
Supreme Court Ruling Harms California's Ability to Provide Justice
Attorney General Bill Lockyer today issued the following comment regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in American Insurance Association, et al., v. John Garamendi, Insurance Commissioner, State of California.
"I am extremely disappointed in the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling striking down a California law aimed at addressing historical wrongs committed by Nazi Germany, which engaged in genocide, slavery and the theft of Jewish assets, including life and property insurance policies.
Jun 24, 2003, 06:33
Massive protest roils downtown Sacramento
20 arrested as 2,000 demonstrate against international ag conference. A spectacle -- part Mardi Gras, part nightmare -- rolled through downtown Sacramento on Sunday as nearly 2,000 protesters and an army of riot-gear-clad police hit the streets.
The chaotic scene was a precursor to an even larger rally and march beginning at 10 a.m. today at the state Capitol. Organizers have taken out a march permit for 8,000 people. Their target: an international agriculture conference, hosted by the U.S. government, that starts today at the Sacramento Convention Center. Despite the massive disruption downtown Sunday, police arrested just 36 demonstrators, including 14 who disobeyed orders to disperse near the IMAX theater, where conference participants saw a screening of a 3-D movie on the international space station.
Full story: Sacramento Bee
Jun 23, 2003, 07:21
Many hats may enter recall ring
The state attorney general calls efforts to recall Gov. Gray Davis "a profound threat to democracy." The lieutenant governor calls it an "expensive perversion" of the recall process. The state treasurer describes it as an "odious use" of the system.
One after another, at the urging of labor leaders who support the governor, five of Davis' fellow Democratic officeholders said last week they don't intend to run should a recall make the ballot.
On Saturday, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein added her name to the list. "I am not a candidate," said Feinstein, who appeared with Davis at ceremonies to open a BART extension to San Francisco International Airport.
Full story: Sacramento Bee
Jun 23, 2003, 07:16
San Joaquin Valley Air Board OKs Plan to Reduce Diesel Smoke, Dust
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control board voted Thursday to accept a plan to reduce dust and diesel smoke while treading lightly on super dairies and big farm equipment — a plan regulators hope will stave off penalties, including the loss of federal transportation funds.
Facing a deadline in August to cut some of the worst particulate pollution in the nation, air board members said they had no choice but to approve the plan, whatever its flaws.
"To not move forward only prolongs the process and delays the fight to clean up our air," said Mike Maggard, a Bakersfield city councilman and air district board member. "We have no choice but to pull the trigger and move forward."
He and his colleagues voted 10 to 0 to send the plan to the state air regulators, who have indicated that they will approve it. The plan then will move to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which can require agriculture and other industries to take more steps to reduce dust and diesel smoke.
The plan drew criticism from doctors, environmentalists and residents who have suffer from asthma, some of whom appeared before the board with steroid inhalers hanging around their necks. They said the plan does not control dust and other contaminants from the dairy and cattle industries and allows the rest of agriculture to police itself.
Full story: LA Times
Jun 22, 2003, 07:26
Folsom Dam deal in works
Reps. John Doolittle and Robert Matsui, long at odds over Sacramento flood control, are at work on a compromise that would authorize nearly $250 million to raise Folsom Dam, plus a "comparable amount" for water supply improvements in Placer and El Dorado counties.
The deal under negotiation would unite Matsui, D-Sacramento, and Doolittle, R-Rocklin, for the first time on a comprehensive water management bill that does not involve the construction of a multipurpose dam at Auburn, which Doolittle has concluded is politically impossible at this time.
Instead, the deal would allow Sacramento to reach its flood protection goal by raising Folsom Dam by 7 feet, while El Dorado and Placer counties in Doolittle's district reap some of the water-supply benefits they would have received if an Auburn dam had been built.
Full story: Sacramento Bee
Jun 21, 2003, 08:45
WTO showdown in Sacto
From June 23 to 25, ministers of trade, agriculture, and health from more than 100 countries will gather at the Sacramento Convention Center for the first-ever international Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology.
Much will be at stake, both for the assembled policy makers – whose decisions could affect the health of generations and the expenditure of trillions of dollars – and for the many protesters who are expected to converge on the city for the first World Trade Organization-related meeting in North America since 1999's confrontational Seattle conference. (That event resulted in hundreds of protester arrests, clashes in which police used tear gas and rubber bullets, and ultimately a curfew that shut down the city.)
The stated purpose of the three-day event is "to support the United States' commitment to global food security" or, as U.S. (and former California) secretary of agriculture Ann M. Veneman said when announcing the event last June, "to focus on the needs of developing countries in adopting new food and agricultural technologies."
Sounds noble. But it's more complicated, and some of its potential ramifications are downright scary, from approving widespread use of irradiated foods to promoting genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Outside the convention center, protesters both local and from around the country who answer calls to action e-mailed by leading activist groups will converge to oppose ministerial recommendations they believe are certain to be approved on behalf of corporations seeking support for irradiation and GMO programs during the invitation-only, high-security meetings.
Full story: SF Bay Guardian
Jun 21, 2003, 08:38
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