California State Legislature

California Assembly Passes Immigrant-Friendly TRUST Act; OC's Dem Assemblymembers Join GOP in Not Voting for It

The Trust Act made its way once more through the California Assembly yesterday by a final vote of 44-22. The legislation was vetoed late last year when it reached the desk of Democratic Governor Jerry Brown. Supporters say the bill authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will limit deportations fueled b ... More >>

Could Gerrie Schipske Be Long Beach's First LGBT Mayor?

The councilwoman stands on the cusp of making that title a reality. But getting there hasn't been easy

How I Found Out About the Lost Mexicans of the Bastanchury Ranch

If you don't already know, I'll just say it here: we at the Weekly love to tell the hidden history of Orange County, those stories that never made it into the master narrative, whether it's its about the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, the Orange County chapter of the Black Panther Party, the Great Flo ... More >>

California Assemblywoman Targets Anti-Israel Campus Activism, Or: Five Criticisms of Israel that Are Inherently Not Anti-Semitic

The California Assembly recently passed a resolution that calls upon college and university leadership to condemn anti-Semitism on campus. Assemblywoman Linda Halderman (R-Fresno) authored the resolution, which demands "no public resources will be allowed to be used for any anti-Semitic or any ... More >>

It Can't Happen Here: Funny and Political Novels and Non-Fiction Books, or: Toward Putting the RNC in Some Perspective

If the image at extreme right makes you laugh, your mental health is better than mine, and perhaps being so darn well-adjusted means you don't need the constant reality check required by Mr. Bib in the form of journalism, essays, memoir, fiction and nonfiction, cartoons and jokes and commentaries, r ... More >>

Bill Extending Rights to Third Parent Follows Senate OK with Assembly Nod--and Usual Foes

A bill approved by the California Assembly Monday would allow judges to extend parental rights to a child's third parent.Senate Bill 1476, which was co-authored by state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), would allow--for instance--a gay father raising a child with a lesbian couple to also have paren ... More >>

When a Mentally Ill Child Becomes a Mentally Ill Adult

OC parents find they are out of care options unless Laura's Law is adopted

State Supreme Court Upholds Abolition of Redevelopment Agencies

​Governor and Norcal Democrat Jerry Brown and Assemblyman and OC Republican Chris Norby don't agree on much, but they do see graying eyebrow to graying eyebrow on abolishing local redevelopment agencies to help close the state budget gap. Today, they and other RDA opponents scored a victory when t ... More >>

Bill Targeting Nonprofits That's Inspired by Jerry Sandusky-Penn State Scandal Gets Legs

​In the wake of the Penn State-Jerry Sandusky controversy, a California assemblyman has answered a Newport Beach attorney and retired state senator's call for legislation targeting the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that foster, enable and cover up child sexual abuse. The proposed bill would stri ... More >>

Martha M. Escutia, Retired Legislator-Turned-Newport Beach Lawyer, Targets Tax-Exempt Status of Abuser Nonprofits in Wake of Penn State Scandal

​After East Los Angeles-born Martha M. Escutia served in both houses of the California Legislature from 1992 through 2006, she helped found the private law practice The Senators (Ret.) Firm in Newport Beach, where she specializes in representing abuse victims and their families.In the wake of th ... More >>

[UPDATED with Bond Fears:] Hours After County OK's $5.6 Billion Budget, State Says "Guaranteed" $48 Million May Not Come

​UPDATE, JUNE 29, 8:03 A.M.: Following up on yesterday's warning about the havoc to services--and possibly public health and safety--that will be caused by a state budget proposal that would withhold $48 million Orange County was counting on in its balanced, just-approved, $5.6 billion fiscal year ... More >>

Marijuana Activists to Protest Orange County Raids at Supervisors Meeting Tomorrow

​In December 2010, the Orange County Board of Supervisors passed a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas of the county. Then, for a few months, nothing happened. Cannabis collectives that had been operating on county turf continued to to so without being raided or even fine ... More >>

[UPDATED with New Kern County Stink:] Courts Weigh Orange County Poop

​UPDATE, MAY 26, 12:42 P.M.: There's an interesting nugget about Orange County and the Carlyle Group in coverage of the ongoing court battle over human waste from Southern California spread atop farmland in Kern County.Anyone trying to put the Bush 43 years behind them may have forgotten about the ... More >>

California Proposes to Ban Shark's Fin Soup--Is it Anti-Chinese?

A Hong Kong ad calling for people to stop consuming shark's fin. Bus ads in San Francisco urge the same.​A bill recently introduced in the California Legislature may strip shark's fin soup from Chinese restaurant menus for good. The move shouldn't come as a shock--environmentalists have long fough ... More >>

OC Legislators Seek Pension Reform, Attack Collective Bargaining in California

​With union-backed Democrats holding the governor's office and both houses of the California Legislature, it's unlikely collective bargaining for public employees will be torpedoed or pension-ending reform will be enacted.But, God bless 'em, three Orange County Republicans are going to try to acco ... More >>

Michael Vincent Petronella, Laguna Hills Roofer Who Lived Like a King, to Do a Dime for Massive Workers' Comp Insurance Fraud

​When Laguna Hills roofing contractor Michael Vincent Petronella and his wife Devon Lynn Kile were arrested in one of the largest known Workers' Compensation Insurance fraud cases in state history, they owned five properties in California and Texas and multiple luxury vehicles including a Bentley ... More >>

Latino Voters Influence Felt Beyond Brown and Boxer in California, Claim Advocates

​Should we credit/blame Latino voters for Jerry Brown returning to the governor's office, Barbara Boxer remaining in the U.S. Senate and Democrats not only holding the nation's upper house but picking up a seat in the California Assembly? Latino advocacy groups think so.

Prop 8 is Illegal Because All California Ballot Propositions are Illegal: Appellate Lawyer

​An appellate lawyer has filed a brief before the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco that argues same-sex-marriage banning Prop 8 should be struck down because all ballot propositions are illegal.As Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) put it in ... And Justice for All, "You're out of order! You're out of or ... More >>

Will Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Apply Lessons Learned to Pending Ski and Snowboard Bills?

​You may still be working on your summer tan, but the Southern California ski and snowboard season unofficially officially begins Sept. 18 with Hot Dawgz & Hand Rails at Bear Mountain in Big Bear. The free event features pro snowboarders competing on 110 tons of man-made snow for a total $20 ... More >>

Orange County Fair Breaks Attendance Record

​The fate of the Orange County Fairgrounds may be in limbo, but people's love of it during the annual OC Fair is not in doubt.The 2010, 120th anniversary fair run broke attendance records with  1,154,969 visitors.That beat previous best year 2007 by nearly half a million guests.

Solorio: Latino Lawmakers Won't Block OC Fairgrounds Sale

​We told you here that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed off on selling the Orange County Fairgrounds to Costa Mesa but that the California Legislature's Latino caucus was still threatening to block the deal because of the city's stance on illegal immigrants. Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Santa ... More >>

Schwarzenegger Signs Off on OC Fairgrounds Deal; Latino Legislators Still Vow to Spike It

​Stung by a failed auction in January, the Schwarzenegger administration announced Wednesday it has signed off on the deal to sell the Orange County Fairgrounds to Costa Mesa for $96 million.However, standing in the way of final approval is the state Legislature, which includes Latino members who ... More >>

Animal Research Protesters Face Terrorism Charges

A Long Beach couple could do five years in federal prison for aggressively protesting animal research at UC schools up north

Growing Pains at Otherside Farms

Chadd McKeen helps medical-pot patients grow their own, while openly bashing some weed dispensaries

Michael Vincent Petronella and Wife to Be Trading "Their Pradas for Prison Garb"

​A Laguna Hills roofing contractor was convicted today of lavishly spending illegal profits on luxury goods by cheating the Workers' Compensation Insurance system in what the Orange County District Attorney's office called one of the largest known fraud cases of its kind in California history.At t ... More >>

As Snow Falls, Legislation Rises

​Three to 6 inches of new snow are expected in the next few hours to start falling in the local mountains--including Big Bear, where 5 feet of white stuff dumped during the last round of storms. Mammoth Mountain got 7 inches of fresh snow in the last 24 to add to its 8- to 12-feet base of packed p ... More >>

Assembly Panel Opposes Fairgrounds Sale

Does Da Gov's stand on the fairgrounds sale help fat cats.​Facing a roomful of Orange County civic leaders wearing orange lapel buttons stating, "Derail the Sale," the California Assembly's Business and Professions Committee voted unanimously today to support a bill that would block the sale of th ... More >>

State Assembly Panel Weighs Legalizing Weed

SFWeekly.comAmmiano​The Weekly just published Dave Ferrell's cover story about the creep toward marijuana legalization. The California Cannabis Initiative appears destined for the November ballot. Meanwhile, pressure to legalize it is still being applied in the state Assembly.The Assembly's Public ... More >>

Lawyer for Jailed Brotherhood Figure Demands Dismissal of Case

Brenice Lee Smith: Welcome Home, Now go to Jail.​Wow, that was fast.Yesterday I blogged that a judge denied a request by Gerardo Gutierrez, the lawyer for Brenice Lee Smith, the onetime member of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love who has spent the past three decades living in a Nepalese monastery, t ... More >>

2009 Postseason Throwdown: 26 Reasons to Hate Boston, Bostonians and Other Massholes

Those rubes in Boston probably find this pretty.​UPDATED WITH CORRECTIONS . . . Before Angel fans can truly hate the Boston Red Sox--actually, if 1986 playoffs didn't do it, nothing will--they must first hate the team's fans, the residents of the town surrounding Fe ... More >>

Tran, Harman and Mansoor: Abuse 'Em and They Won't Sue You

Van Tran, Tom Harman and Allan Mansoor--together at last.​If state Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach), Assemblyman Van Tran (R-Costa Mesa) and Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor get hit by a reckless driver as they pull into South Coast Plaza later this morning, do not expect them or their insurance ... More >>

Is LA Times' State Capitol Columnist Implying Legislators Banging Lobbyists Accomplish More?

Skelton: Seen it all.​Los Angeles Times state Capitol columnist George Skelton begins his piece today on the Mike Duvall scandal much more tantalizingly than a typical George Skelton column.The Legislature had just wrapped up its annual session when a top aide invited me to a post-adjournment part ... More >>

As Rep. Calvert Beams Over Gipper Statue, Many Fume

Courtesy U.S. Capitol"Ladies and gentlemen, the statue of Ronald Reagan," the announcer inside the Capitol Rotunda said last Wednesday before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi helped 87-year-old Nancy Reagan to her feet so she could tug back the blue drape cloaking Chas Fagan's 7-foot bronze statue of the ... More >>

Gustavo KPFK Show, Part II--Preview and Review

www.centerfortruth.org*Updated, with new info on the bottom...Gracias to those of you who listened last week to my debut on KPFK-FM 90.7 and left supportive comments (rest of you can listen to the archived version here; scroll down to "Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, 4:03 p.m. and click "Play"--never mind ... More >>

Longtime OC GOP Legislator Ross Johnson Finds New Life As a Campaign-Finance Watchdog in Sacramento

Controversial Developer Robert Bisno Brings His Grease-a-Palm Politics to Santa Ana

241 Toll Road Delayed Indefinitely

The 241 Foothill-South Toll Road extension that would have run through San Onofre State Park endangering wild life and costing tax payers $10 million, has been delayed indefinitely, according to Congressman Ken Calvert. In the Congressman's words, "thanks to Reps. Susan Davis and Loretta Sanchez ( ... More >>

Jane C.R. Doe Speaks

An Exclusive Interview with Jeff Andrade’s victim

Dude, Where's My Pot?

Ten years after California legalized medical marijuana, OCs war on cannabis continues

Chuck DeVore on Hemp

Last week there was a rumor goin' round that Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine), a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard and a Republican, was co-author of a bill to legalize industrial hemp. Not only that, but he was doing so with none other than Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), the ope ... More >>

The Ticket Wizard

Parking tickets are now handled by a mysterious OC company that makes justice and the law go . . . poof

Diary of a Mad County

Carona Cover-Up?

Sealed records show sheriff's complicity in scandal

The Army of God

How a monk, an altar boy, and a sex-abuse victim joined forces to battle their common enemy: the Catholic Church

Diary of a Mad County

Broken Records Act

New law could make it easier for you to find out where the bodies are buried

Mugged

Need to find a good photo of yourself? Ask the Secret Service

Letters

Constitutional Cuisinart

OC congressmen try to chop U.S. birthright out of the 14th Amendment

Taming the Beast

State lawmakers try to regulate the global Net