Tuesday, August 12, 2008

California News Roundup - August 12, 2008

While budget waits, California legislators collect campaign donations -- As California faces a looming cash crunch, state lawmakers are making sure one treasury won't run dry - their campaign accounts.

Governor sues controller to force pay cuts -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sued state Controller John Chiang on Monday after he refused to follow the governor's order to slash pay for thousands of state workers to federal minimum wage as a cash-saving measure during the budget impasse.

Bankrupt Vallejo bleeding its police force -- Vallejo, already in an economic tailspin, has lost about 20 percent of its police force since the city began its slide into bankruptcy.

Lawmakers apparently miss deadline to change rail bond measure -- With a veto threat looming, lawmakers on Monday missed a deadline to replace November's $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond ballot measure with an updated version. Or did they?

Dan Walters: Feinstein is playing it coy on a 2010 run for governor -- As certain as the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano on St. Joseph's Day, the approach of another gubernatorial election means another months-long wait for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to decide whether she wants to run. Democrat Feinstein, as one might recall, did run for governor in 1990 and lost to Republican Pete Wilson.

$1 million in awards upheld in PUC bias case -- A state appeals court has upheld $1 million in damages and attorney's fees in a discrimination suit by a California Public Utilities Commission engineer who said he was harassed and disciplined because he is from India.

Los Rios college district puts bond measure on November ballot -- Between a rock and hard times, the Los Rios Community College District has placed a $475 million bond measure on the November ballot. "Enrollment is growing far faster than any of us could have imagined it would," said Brice Harris, chancellor of the Los Rios system.

Peter Schrag: What's driving illegal immigrants home? -- Though it hasn't got much notice, there's now fairly wide agreement that the number of illegal immigrants in the United States has declined by a hefty 10 percent or more in the past year or so.


No comments: