Recently in California Category

Councilman Paul Krekorian announced Tuesday he is supporting Glendale School Board Member Nayiri Nahabedian for election to the Assembly seat he gave up.
Krekorian said he believed Nahabedian had the experience needed to replace him in the 43rd Assembly District.
"Under very difficult economic circumstances, Nayiri has worked hard to ensure that Glendale schools remain fiscally solvent and that their students are prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow," Krekorian said.
"Nayiri is the only candidate in this race with the experience to confront the problems facing California, and the independence to make the hard decisions that will be required. In these extraordinarily challenging times, she is exactly the kind of leader we need to send to Sacramento to fight for us."

Citing lax oversight, California Controller John Chiang said Monday the state paid $11 million to in-home caretakers to assist people who were dead. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The overpayments included $4.3 million to in-home providers in Los Angeles County.

"What the controller is doing is pointing out that there needs to be more state and county oversight of In-Home Supportive Services payments," said Garin Casaleggio, a spokesman for the State Controller's Office

Attorney General Jerry Brown filed campaign finance reports today for the second half of 2009 that showed he has raised $4.9 million since July 1 and a total of $8.3 million for the year, leaving him with $12.1 millio nin cash on hand.
The Brown for Governor 2010 Exploratory Committee, which began raising funds in early October, took in $4.4 million in the final three months of 2009.
"Jerry Brown has a broad network of supporters all across the state of California," said Brown Campaign Manager Steve Glazer. "We expect to have the resources to mount an aggressive campaign in 2010."
Brown will not need to spend much in the June primary, but has to look to November when he is expected to face huge spending operations from either of the two leading Republican candidates, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner or former ebay president Meg Whitman.

Voter apathy among Latinos and other minority voters threatens to turn traditionally blue state California into another Massachusetts-like shocker in this year's midterm elections, political experts are warning.Tony Castro in the Daily News.

The importance of the turnout among Latinos and other minorities, according to several political consultants and strategists, underscores the tenuous position of statewide Democratic candidates in a new Field Poll showing them in trouble with white voters.

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer trailed Republican challenger Tom Campbell, 46 percent to 43 percent among white voters but leads him by 10 points overall because of Boxer's 74-point advantage among African-Americans and 36-point advantage among Latinos.

California will get more than $2.3 billion in federal stimulus money to help build an 800-mile-long, high-speed rail line tying Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area to Los Angeles and San Diego. Daily News.

The grants announced by the Obama administration would fund the largest public works project in California history, with construction likely to start with a stretch from Los Angeles to Anaheim.

"I will say this about California, as typical, has been way ahead of the curve," Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood said during a Thursday morning conference call. "The people there have been working and planning for high-speed rail for more than a decade, and they are willing to put up their own taxpayer dollars."

The sage green and beige apartments were supposed to open in Sun Valley this year, providing affordable and supportive housing to needy, disabled renters. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

But the 60-unit Glenoaks Gardens complex has been put on hold, along with hundreds of other affordable housing projects across California, all victims of the state budget crisis. With California delaying payments on voter-approved bonds, developers have been unable to get the bridge loans from commercial lenders they need to build the projects.

"We had expected to break ground in fall 2009," said Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and CEO of Los Angeles Family Housing of North Hollywood, developer of Glenoaks Gardens. "(But) it's been delayed as we work out scenarios to resolve the state's financial crisis.

I cannot say it any more clearly- Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley should absolutely not run for Attorney General. Many of his liberal, pro-criminal rights positions - particularly his aggressive history of attempts to weaken 'Three Strikes' with criminal-rights Democrat Senator Gloria Romero coupled with a ballot initiative committee funded by OJ Simpson defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran's law partner - make him completely unsuitable for the office. Thankfully he is trailing in fundraising and endorsement support, and with recent poll numbers we can be somewhat reassured that California Republicans just won't nominate him. Mike Reynolds in the Flashreport.

SAN FRANCISCO - A unanimous California Supreme Court has struck down a law that sought to impose limits on the amount of marijuana a medical patient can legally possess.
AP in the Daily News.
The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that state lawmakers were wrong to change provisions of the voter-approved Proposition 215. The 1996 measure allowed for patients with a doctor's recommendation to possess an unspecified amount of marijuana.

The Legislature, seeking to give law enforcement guidance on when to make marijuana possession arrests, mandated in 2003 that each patient could have a maximum of 8 ounces of dried marijuana.

Attorney General Jerry Brown, serving as acting governor, issued a state of emergency declaration on Thursday for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco and Siskiyou counties as a result of the winter storms.
Brown, who is running for governor this year, has been serving as acting governor while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is lobbying in Washington, D.C.

Conventional wisdom says it can't happen here. Of course, until Tuesday night, conventional wisdom said it shouldn't happen in Massachusetts. Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

The day after Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown captured the U.S. Senate seat held for decades by Democrat Ted Kennedy, politicos in California were wondering aloud.

Meet the new governor of California - Jerry Brown. California Weekly.

At least for a while.

Brown, the state attorney general and an all-but-declared candidate this year for governor, is acting governor because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature's top leaders are in Washington, D.C. seeking federal funding for recession-plagued California.

All business in style and substance, U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina came to the San Fernando Valley on Tuesday and said cuts in taxes and regulations can "restore California to the land of opportunity within the land of opportunity." Kevin Modesti in the Daily News.

Fiorina, one of three prominent Republicans vying to challenge Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, pitched herself to a luncheon audience of 100 members of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association as a self-made star of the business world who wants to bring her experience to Washington.

"I think too many politicians either never knew what the real world is like or have forgotten what the real world is like," said Fiorina, the former chairwoman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard. "I think we need a little more practical problem-solving (in Congress) and a little less back-room deal-making."

Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that postponed the early release of 40,000 California prisoners, another 6,000 convicts are expected to be set free early from state prisons starting next week, alarming public safety officials and local leaders. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The 6,000 are to be released under separate legislation that is not affected by the Supreme Court's decision Tuesday.

The court rejected the state of California's challenge of a special judicial panel's order to release the prisoners early under an overcrowding lawsuit filed by the Berkeley-based nonprofit Prison Law Office.

Former Rep. Tom Campbell, with the prospect of being outspent by millions by two opponents, announced Thursday he is dropping out of the race for governor and running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate _ where he will be outspent by only one opponent,
"I initially made the decision to run for governor because I believe that my level of record of public service (especially on the state budget), and my willingness to present specific, pragmatic solutions to our most pressing problems would enable me to help chart a better course for our state," Campbell said in a statement to supporters and video to supporters..
"...Today, I remain firmly committed on that path with an announcement that I'll be running for the U.S. Senate instead."
Campbell, who served as budget director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and holds a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago, is challenging former HP president Carly Fiorina for the nomination and the right to challenge Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer.

District Attorney Steve Cooley took one more step closer to getting in to this year's race for Attorney General.
A Republican, Cooley announced teh formation of an exploratory committee to guage public support of his possible candidacy.
"Many people from law enforcement and throughout the political spectrum are urging me to run for Attorney General," Cooley said in a statement.
"I am proud of my crime fighting record as District Attorney. As a career prosecutor and District Attorney of Los Angeles County I have the experience and drive to be California's top law enforcement officer. "California's Attorney General must be a law enforcement leader with a proven track record of reducing crime and fighting fraud and public corruption."
Cooley, 62, has been elected to three terms as District Attorney.