Welfare faces big hit as demand for services soars -- Welfare benefits in California could be cut to levels of seven or eight years ago, under at least one state budget proposal. Agencies that serve some of society's most vulnerable people are slashing staff and canceling services in anticipation of state budget cuts to welfare programs. Cynthia Hubert in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/22/08
Load rising for `safety net' health providers -- Community clinics, already faced with shrinking state and private funding, expect patient loads to expand next year as more unemployed workers lose health insurance. A bottleneck for access to low-cost health care is inevitable, experts say, as more uninsured seek medical attention, and hospital emergency rooms become overloaded. Susan Abram in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 12/22/08
California counties brace for the worst -- Bay Area counties, drowning in deficits, aren't expecting any life preservers when state officials finally agree on a plan to close the state's nearly $15 billion budget gap for the current fiscal year. John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/22/08
Democrats' budget ploy could shake up balance of power in Sacramento -- One longtime Capitol observer called it the legislative equivalent of the nuclear option. When legislative Democrats last week unveiled a risky gambit to raise billions in new revenue by exploiting a loophole in the state Constitution, it was more than just a bid to prop up the sagging general fund. Mike Zapler in the San Jose Mercury -- 12/22/08
Skelton: Governor and Democrats should push for a win in budget battle -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders are close to agreement on a landmark red-ink reduction package. But to see how close, you'd have to look inside Schwarzenegger's head. And I don't know anyone in Sacramento who knows how to do that. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/22/08
Budget talks by videophone -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger met with Democratic leaders Sunday over videophone to renegotiate a multibillion-dollar budget fix after he rejected their plan last week. Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/22/08
Schwarzenegger reveals tricks of the trade on '60 Minutes' -- The governor says that without his acting experience, his job in Sacramento would have been much more difficult. Michael Rothfeld in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/22/08
Walters: A plan to balance California's budget -- It's self-evident that the current occupants of the Capitol, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, don't know how to negotiate effectively. But if they weren't endemically dysfunctional, what would be a reasonable way to close the state's budget deficit? Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/22/08
Pelosi power: California rises -- Forget Illinois: California is poised to be the top dog in Obama-era Washington. With roughly a half-dozen Cabinet and key administrative appointees and a powerhouse congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the other end of Pennsylvania Ave., California is shaping up to be the new Texas, the alpha state whose cultural and policymaking influence was inescapable through most of the last eight years. CHARLES MAHTESIAN Politico -- 12/22/08
UC Berkeley economists playing key role in new administration -- Sure, there's a recession, but the arrows are pointing up for economists at the University of California, Berkeley. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/22/08
As layoffs rise, wrongful-termination suits may follow -- Lured away from her job in Houston to take an executive position at Dell Inc., Jan Chapman persuaded her husband to quit his job, move with her to Austin, Texas, and buy a house at the height of the real estate bubble. Seven months later, the computer maker laid off Chapman, whose 25-year career in human resources had been filled with flattering performance evaluations. Carol J. Williams in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/22/08
911 furloughs work in reverse -- The unpaid furloughs ordered for city employees more than a month ago were intended to save money, but at the police and fire departments, furloughed emergency dispatchers are replaced by colleagues who are then paid overtime. Christian Burkin in the Stockton Record -- 12/22/08
State law hasn't put brakes on defaults -- This year's main legislative effort to rein in the state's wave of home foreclosures has had mixed results, amid signs that the law's key feature only temporarily slowed the process. JIM MILLER in the Riverside Press -- 12/22/08
New wetlands plan worries San Francisco Bay fishermen -- When it's complete, it will be one of the largest wetlands restorations in U.S. history, a sprawling complex of critical habitat in the North Bay that scientists believe will benefit threatened and endangered species, provide a nursery for fish and even help ease the effects of global warming. Brian Hoffman in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/22/08
Orange County traffic planners left wondering where to turn -- Now that the federal government has rejected a proposed toll road extension through south Orange County, it's back to square one. Susannah Rosenblatt in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/22/08
Obama looks West for energy plan -- Would a green energy America look and act much like the Golden State? President-elect Barack Obama has hailed California as a trendsetter in the fight against global warming, and he’s topped his energy and environment team with experts from there — Nobel Prize-winning scientist Steven Chu as energy secretary and Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley as head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. ERIKA LOVLEY Politico -- 12/22/08
L.A. can use race as factor in magnet schools -- Los Angeles can continue to seek racial balance in assigning tens of thousands of students to specialized magnet schools despite California's voter-approved ban on race preferences in government programs, a state appeals court has ruled. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/22/08
L.A.'s new arts school an expensive social experiment -- The campus has long been intended as a local school, mostly serving students from surrounding neighborhoods. Critics say the district's best resources shouldn't be restricted geographically. Mitchell Landsberg in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/22/08
Middle school students soar like young eagles -- It wasn't the usual takeoff from Torrance Municipal Airport. When the cream-and-maroon Citabria Adventure broke its bond with Earth, George Butts pulled back hard on the stick. The little aerobatic plane shot skyward at a near vertical angle, like a roller coaster making its first ascent. Dan Weikel in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/22/08
Colleges report increase in early applications -- In a recession, expensive private colleges like Stanford University lose students to cheaper public universities. That's the conventional thinking. And it's wrong. Across the nation, Stanford and other wealthy schools with generous aid packages are all reporting increases in interest. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury -- 12/22/08
Community colleges to be hurt by state budget woes -- California community colleges are bracing for the impact as the state budget gaps yawns every day. The latest estimate is a $41.8 billion shortfall by June 2010. Cody Kraatz and Matt Wilson in the San Jose Mercury -- 12/22/08
Schools see increase in subsidized lunches -- The recession is driving more children into school cafeterias for government-subsidized lunches. Schools nationwide are serving 425,000 more free and reduced-priced meals daily than they were last year, according to the School Nutrition Association. Chris Moran in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 12/22/08
Fresno Unified targets bullying -- After years of promising to do something about the chronic problem of bullying, the Fresno Unified School District has embarked on a $1.3 million plan that it says could become a blueprint for schools nationwide. Pablo Lopez in the Fresno Bee -- 12/22/08
School cyberbullying law takes effect Jan. 1 -- A new law aimed at deterring the proliferation of cyberbullying at public schools goes into effect Jan. 1, bolstering educators' ability to tackle the problem head-on. Joe Nelson in the Inland Daily Bulletin -- 12/22/08
Outsider or insider to replace San Francisco chief? -- In selecting a new police chief, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will have to weigh candidates from within the department who know the city's choppy political waters against outsiders who might do better implementing reform, political leaders and law enforcement experts said Sunday. Jaxon Van Derbeken, Demian Bulwa in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/22/08
Matier & Ross: San Francisco first lady sparkles with borrowed diamonds -- Diamonds really are a girl's best friend - especially for Mayor Gavin Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who has a cozy jewelry exchange going on with a couple of San Francisco's swankiest diamond purveyors. Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/22/08
Sacramento taxi death points to rule loopholes -- When you step into a taxi, you are putting your life in a stranger's hands. That may sound melodramatic. There is no indication cabbies get in more crashes than other drivers. Police don't even bother keeping statistics on that. But a death in Sacramento last week throws a light on a hidden problem. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/22/08
Local investigative firm sees rise in workers' comp fraud cases -- Daniel Andrade, a former Sacramento City Unified School District custodian, hurt his left heel when a cart rolled onto it at work. For several months he told doctors the pain was so severe it rendered him "inactive," according to court documents. Chelsea Phua in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/22/08
Sacramento's K Street Mall can't shake malaise, lure shoppers -- As Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" played from the speakers above downtown Sacramento's outdoor ice rink Sunday morning, the K Street Mall scene sang another song. Ed Fletcher and Mary Lynne Vellinga in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/22/08
U.S. is investigating LAPD officer -- A veteran Los Angeles police officer who operates a security company in Belize is under federal investigation for allegedly smuggling handguns into the Central American nation, according to law enforcement sources and internal LAPD documents. Richard Winton and Scott Glover in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/22/08
Religious displays to be debated in court -- California jurists next year will rule on the constitutionality of crosses on public land, teachers' speech rights and students' Bible clubs. Joanna Lin in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/22/08
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