** Word is that California Senate leaders are considering adjourning the session early in the coming week. That would have the effect of deferring many bills to the next session, including the global warming bill. The “why” behind the potential move is unclear, but seems to have something to do with ongoing jockeying with the Assembly.
Needless to say, coming on the heels of the roundly-disbelieved and much-reviled kabuki play between the two houses over Democratic legislative leaders’ unfulfilled promise to pass redistricting reform this year, this is probably, shall we say, an unwise idea.
** It’s getting to be a trend. The LA Times political reporters will launch a blog via the Times web site. This follows the move by Democratic insiders, revealed here last April, to launch the new California Majority Report. The site, launched with great fanfare — no small amount of it here — last week with advance publicity in newspapers, a press conference, and a soiree at a hot Capitol restaurant featuring top Democratic politicians, is retooling after some early problems. No word yet when the Timesies will go Netive. The last Times person to blog on politics, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Michael Hiltzik, soon revealed his hyperpartisanship behind the Times’ veil of seeming objectivity, and flamed out.
** Sources say LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will return to the state Capitol on Monday to push through his bid to partially take over and reform the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District. There are a few wrinkles on the horizon, one of which I’ll note later which is not substantively related, but prospects look good.
** Track global and national energy futures prices in near real time via Bloomberg. Crude oil prices are hovering a couple dollars over $70 a barrel.
** Continuous coverage of the new global insecurity on Pajamas Media (PJM).
Read 
| Comments (0) |
I have the feeling more legislative shenanigans are instore.
On Friday, I received the message below in my in-box from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Committee: Excellence in LA Schools…everyone please go to this link: http://www.excellenceinlaschools.com and read about his school reform plan, see the endorsements, and take action in support of this bill! Toodles!
“We’ve had a great month in our campaign to restore Excellence in LA Schools. Mayor Villaraigosa’s LAUSD reform plan has overwhelmingly passed every legislative step along the way, and we’ve gained numerous new endorsements from elected officials, organizations, and community leaders.But we still need your help. The current legislative session ends on August 31st, and we need our plan to pass both the State Senate and Assembly before then. …AB 1381 was due to be voted on by the full Senate yesterday. But with the typical legislative maneuverings that accompany the end of the session, the vote was pushed back to Monday.
With so many bills before the Legislature, it’s important that our represenatives hear from you today.”Please take a moment to forward this message to five of your friends, urging them to contact their representatives in Sacramento. Then, please call your State Senator and urge the passage of AB 1381 on Monday!
With your help, we’ll push our LAUSD reform plan across the finish line, right before the school year begins!
Thank you for your support,
The Excellence in LA Schools team”
AB 1381…
Why the panic? Bill comes up on the Senate floor Monday. It needs 21 votes to move to the Assembly. That seems like a cinch. Moves either Monday or early Tuesday to the Assembly. Probably needs a quick hearing of two…easily done in one day. Comes up for a floor vote Wednesday or Thursday…perhaps Friday as the last piece of business. Gets the 41 votes it needs and moves on to the Gov. Gov has until October 1 to sign, veto or allow it to become law without his signature. If he does either the first or last, it will then become law on January 1, 2007.
Now, after having just walked eight miles on the bike path, I said now head to the market for food. Hey, even old people have to eat!
Toddles!
Cool, another outlet for the Times’ brand of partisanship masquerading as objectivity.
Why bother to blog somewhere else when the California Plurality Report is already there. lol The Times reporters can blog next to the sources that dominate their stories.
In an of itself, Villaraigosa’s bill should be fine.
We’ll see how the LA Times political blog plays out. I think they’re still planning it.
Bill,
Question regarding the LA Times. I use to live in LA and read it all the time. Thought it was a fine paper. That was, however, many years ago. And now I see folks poking fun at it. Has it regressed that much under the new ownership?
No.
I’m shocked. Bill’s blogging during a F1 race.
Legislative shenanigans in the final days of a session? Unthinkable!
Thanks.
Actually, the F1 race is on replay now.
I see I’ve not yet succeeded in inspiring others of following my practice of watching Formula One racing at 4:30 on a Sunday morning.
Live, from Istanbul, it’s the Grand Prix of Turkey!
For some, this practice of mine is only slightly less objectionable than my annual observance of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Watching all 24 hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans …
For Wilbur and anyone else who is watching the taped replay of the F1 race, I won’t spoil it for you. But it’s a great race!
You’re welcome, Solon. It’s too nice a day to write a mini-essay about the LA Times. Suffice it to say that it is a quality newspaper with enormous resources still.
Bill,
You’re 100% correct, it’s a grand day. You provided me with all the information I needed. Thank you.
Now, while you watch F1, I shall return to watching a tiger prowl!
I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how anything in AB 1381 will result in “reform.” Yes, we keep hearing that “something must be done,” despite clear evidence that the district has made progress under the leadership of Romer and the current board, but what exactly will AB 1381 DO? What exactly is the Mayor’s plan? How will the diffused accountability that will result from AB 1381 result in improved student achievement?
The fact of the matter is that the advancement of the bill through the Legislature has represented the very worst that the Capitol has to offer. Mayor Villaraigosa and Speaker Nunez have twisted or broken every arm that stood in their way – listen to the tape of the Appropriations Committee hearing, with Senator Deborah Ortiz practically pleading with the Speaker not to kill her bills in the Assembly if she decides to vote against AB 1381 when it comes to the Senate floor.
Is there room for improvement in L.A.’s schools? Of course – no one is arguing that. But AB 1381 offers nothing more than powerful rhetoric. It will take much more than that, and blind faith in the charismatic Mayor isn’t going to do a thing for L.A.’s kids.
Ah, the improving LA schools. The dropout rate is down below 70 percent now, is it? I so enjoy the fake statistics LAUSD has offered up for many eyars.
The “diffused accountability” aspect does look a lot more like political accommodation than sound management structure….perhaps a mechanism for claiming any successes yet disclaiming accountability for failures?
It’s a compromise from what Villaraigosa wanted.
If you want an insider’s look at the problems of the LA Times, read Steve Wasserman’s
piece here:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/the_death_of_newspapers/
Thanks, Adam, good to hear from you.
While the Wasserman piece on the woes of the LA Times is worthy, it is also the work of someone privileged for many years to work within the confines of what was accurately described as the “Velvet Coffin.”
I’ll never forget having an editor there complain to me about how difficult it was to cover Los Angeles “with only 50 reporters.”
Let me tell you something. You give me those resources and watch what happens.
Adam,
Thanks for the link. Very interesting. Appears that the owners are doing the same for the Times as they continue to do for the Cubs!
Bill, you should have at least a Sca State intern by now, no?
That would be Sac State….
Yes, the Velvet Coffin, I heard that when I first started doing book reviews for them.
Wasserman tried as best as he could to make the Book Review a first rate supplement, but the owners kept undercutting him. And the other CA paper I review for, the SF Chron, has recently had its book pages slashed down. Oh well. Books, shmooks.
….24 won a couple of Emmy’s!!!
Sorry for the all too typical LA Weekly technical failure earlier tonight …
Adam, I have a stack of books to read, and I read all the time. But not usually from books.
Jack Bauer has my unconditional enmity, but he also earned a well-deserved Emmy.
Season 6 can’t come soon enough.
Actually, he has TWO well-deserved Emmys.
He’s a producer of the show as well.
Adam,
I enjoyed the LA Times article. Thank you for recommending it!
“The Girl in the Cafe”…great movie…also won tonight.
wkmrtwas…
qkrdlfcsg ieacyu nmlhjokhge…
adult cruise…
gsetlee dgaulip cacvtgg …
hydrocodone…
lkvflwdc azvbsuurwuk mxxzrqfar …
buy phentermine…
ficjscdm ulkfxjdgym tmijulkviiu …
buy phentermine…
ujmttccyjy uydjwbwjgza blcbtt …
sex video chat…
txszresgg szwivrme hnuiqssli …
discount phentermine…
mlpwuyms dyxbejtdg vlgikkqsru …
phentermine…
femulnns diyziiem pthbqw …