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16 May 2011 23:50

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Politics: California’s financial situation gets slightly less awful

  • $6.6 billion in unexpected money for California source
  • » Where’d it come from? Rising wages. The average Californian worker will see a $4,000 uptick in pay over the next two years, resulting in more tax revenue for the fledgling state than was originally projected. If Governor Jerry Brown gets his way, this unexpected surprise will net schools an additional $3 billion in funding and take a significant bite into the state’s $15 billion deficit.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 May 2011 15:40

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U.S.: Protip: If you live in California, don’t breathe the air or something

  • 154M number of Americans who live in areas of the country where the air is sometimes dangerous to breathe
  • 17M number of Americans that live in areas with three different types of dangerous pollution source
  • » California cities the worst: According to the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air 2011” report, released last week, eight of the ten worst metropolitan areas for pollution are based in California (though one county crosses the Nevada border), with Los Angeles being the worst and Sacramento and San Diego also making the list. Uh, yikes.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2011 15:02

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Politics: Prop. 8: Plea to lift stay on California gay marriage rejected

  • It is decidedly unjust and unreasonable to expect California’s gay and lesbian couples to put their lives on hold and suffer daily discrimination as second-class citizens while their U.S. District Court victory comes to its final conclusion.
  • Chad Griffin, chairman of The American Foundation For Civil Rights • Speaking on the rejected plea to lift the stay on the Proposition 8 ruling. The proposition, which was approved by voters in the 2008 election, was ruled unconstitutional by Judge Vaughn Walker last year, but a stay was put on his ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This was broadly thought to be a delay on the resumption of gay marriage in the state so that if/when a higher court examined the issue, the marriages wouldn’t again have to be halted if Walker’s verdict was overturned. Gay rights advocates are understandably unhappy, as the stay could conceivably last a year, and if civil rights are infringed, we suspect that’s not the expedient remedy most people would feel entitled to. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Mar 2011 14:56

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Politics: GOP-led committee may scuttle California’s emissions standards

  • cause The big shift from a Democratic House to a Republican one doesn’t simply mean a vote-count edge; it also means Republicans gain control of the various House committees and subcommittees. For example: the Energy and Commerce Committee, helmed by Rep. Fred Upton.
  • effect The aforementioned committee approved a bill for the House’s consideration that would bar the EPA from enforcing automobile emissions standards in California. Said Rep. Joe Barton: “We should not put the U.S. economy in a straight jacket because of a theory that hasn’t been proven.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Mar 2011 15:35

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U.S.: Japanese tsunami claims first American victims

  • four Californians in Crescent City have been swept out to sea by the tsunami
  • twoof them have been rescued and taken to safety
  • one is confirmed dead; the fourth is, as of now, unaccounted for source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Mar 2011 10:31

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U.S.: Tsunami may hit Californian shores in a couple of minutes

  • yes A tsunami warning has been issued to Northern California; Crescent City’s shores could be hit any minute now, with San Francisco and Santa Barbara following within the hour.
  • however…It’s probably not a big deal; the estimated wave heights in California are only around 4ft, and none of San Francisco has been evacuated. Still, steer clear of any beaches. source
  • » Two of us at ShortFormBlog live in California, and despite the fact that four feet waves don’t sound too intimidating, we’re going to resist the temptation (however minimal) to go to any of our beaches today. To our fellow Californians, please play it safe, because with Mother Nature, you never know. Officials say the north end of Monterey Bay is expected to be hit the hardest, and these things can continue for up to twelve hours after the initial hit.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Mar 2011 13:35

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U.S.: California headlines America’s shifting racial demographics

  • 50%+ of children in California are Latino, says the U.S. Census
  • 1:4 children under 18 are non-Hispanic whites, a rate which decreased
  • 38% of all Californians are Latinos, compared with 40 percent whites source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Mar 2011 10:59

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U.S.: Twenty years after Rodney King, the LAPD’s view on cameras evolves

  • Early on in their training, I always tell them, ‘I don’t care if you’re in a bathroom taking care of your personal business…. Whatever you do, assume it will be caught on video.’ We tell them if they’re doing the right thing then they have no reason to worry.
  • LAPD officer and recruit supervisor Sgt. Heather Fungaroli • Offering a fairly fresh assessment on the how the police department now views video. Twenty years ago, a video clip turned their whole view on the matter inside-out. The clip of Rodney King’s beating by multiple police officers, and the subsequent “not guilty” verdict in the case, led to a major riot in the city that drew national attention and led to 50 deaths. These days, the police force is quickly putting more cameras in police cars and even has its own videographers to cover incidents – advances which not only ensure better cop conduct but can help exonerate them in legal cases. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Mar 2011 12:46

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U.S.: Nearly 43 years later, Sirhan Sirhan mounts a Manchurian defense

  • 6/4/68 Following a win in the California Democratic primary, Robert Kennedy was shot three times by Sirhan Sirhan, wounds that would kill him. Sirhan admitted to the shooting and claimed “twenty years of malice aforethought” went into the crime. He also claimed to have done it for his country, which suggests that Kennedy’s support for Israel likely played a role in the native Palestinian’s crime.
  • 3/2/11 A Sirhan lawyer, William F. Pepper, is taking a peculiar and pretty provocative case before the parole board, the 14th time Sirhan has appeared for parole since the shooting. Pepper plans to argue for both the possibility of a second gunman, and that Sirhan had been “hypno-programmed” into the murder. Moreover, Pepper claims he thinks he knows who did it, but declined to tell the press. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2011 10:33

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U.S.: Why Jerry Brown’s California state hiring freeze likely means nothing

  • Davis The recalled governor pushed a hiring freeze on the state in 2001, but made some exceptions for certain departments. Those departments hired 6,500 more people in just six months. Oops.
  • Ah-nold During his time in office, he also enforced a hiring freeze, but allowed exceptions for state workers approved by the governor’s office – around 10,000 of them in his final year of office.
  • Brown Now, Jerry Brown plans to do the same thing – with the same loophole as Schwarzenegger. Stop us if you think you’ve heard this one before. Actually, we’ll just stop ourselves. source
  • » One thing Brown won’t be doing, though: The California governor quietly killed a lawsuit put in by Schwarzenegger that would have cut state worker pay to minimum wage during unresolved budget crises. Brown’s office, however, didn’t make a big deal about this. It’s also worth noting that the hiring freeze contains no specifics in terms of how much it’ll actually save.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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