[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Matt Lockshin, one of the California Democratic Party's online coordinators, sent out this notice on the CDP's Summer of Change video contest:

"I'm writing this to invite you to vote in the CA Dem Party's Summer of Change video contest. Contestants created 30-second ads about what's at stake in this year's budget battle and the winner of the contest will win some money and have their video aired on television.

Check them out and vote for your favorite at:

http://www.summerofchange08.com

We had 66 submissions, some of which are really good (and really funny). The winner of the contest will be determined by a two-rounds judging process and you can vote in both rounds.

I hope you'll check the videos out and cast your vote.

http://www.summerofchange08.com

The deadline for voting in the first round is tonight at 9:00 pm PDT. So check it out today.

After the first round, we'll winnow the field down to five videos. The final round of voting will begin tomorrow and end at 9:00 pm on Saturday, May 31, 2008. Take a look and cast your vote.

Thanks,
Matt"

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Speaker-elect Karen Bass has a start date: May 13, just as the budget battle will be heating up, the Sacramento Beereports. Bass will be great, and it doesn't hurt that Fabian Nunez willstill be around to help out before he is termed out.

Bass and Darrell Steinberg, her Democratic counterpart in the State Senate, have promised to be frugal in their personal habits, refusing to live a lavish lifestyle on the public's dime, according tothe Contra Costa Times. A lot of the problem has more to do withperception that meaningful dollars, but Bass and Steinberg are right totake this line.

Global warming isn't just impacting penguins and polar ice caps, it could very well effect how and where people live in the Bay Area, for instance, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. According to theChronicle, homes closer to the Bay and in some parts of the city andOakland could be underwater, and higher density may be needed to justto keep up with population growth.

There's more... 

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Three more Capitol press corps veterans are leaving their posts.
 
Aaron Davis of the Associated Press has snared a job at the Washington Post. Davis joined AP from the San Jose Mercury News, and has written a number of investigative pieces (most recently a barnburner on a no-bid Schwarzenegger Administration's PR contract that grabbed headlines on the central coast) while covering the governor. Davis also was covering the budget, which means someone else will have to draw that short straw at the news organization.
 
Tom Chorneau of the San Francisco Chronicle is leaving to join School Innovations & Advocacy Inc., which is headed by the quoteable Kevin Gordon. Chorneau, who had a stint at AP covering the capital before jumping to the Chron, will be heavily involved in the organization's online news service. Expect to continue to see him under the dome covering this year's budget battle. Chorneau's departure leaves the Chronicle with a single reporter, Matt Yi. There's some talk that the Chron -- which has lost three other reporters within the past year or so -- will bring another reporter to the bureau. I'll believe it when I see it.
 
Tamara Keith of KQED has announced she'll be leaving this summer, also headed to Washington, D.C.  She'll be following her husband to the nation's capital. No word on whether the San Francisco-based station will be replacing her to join John Myers in the station's Sacramento bureau.
 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Key bills and issues we’ve been following during the past week and beyond

By Hannah Beth Jackson

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

I know the budget battle has come and gone, but there is still an outstanding question: What becomes of Senator Jeff Denham (R-Merced)? Do we just forget about the whole Recall Denham thing? (That's likely to happen in the aftermath, but is that right?)

How do we use the resources that have been spent against him already? Sure, it may not be huge monetary figures as of now, but it sure would be nice to not see that money just down the drain. (Other than drawing $150K of Denham's money out). So, I'll give my take in the comments, what do you think?

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Everywhere we can. See, the thing is that Denham is in a terrible position, electorally.  His district is somewhat of a swing district, but he's trying to get the GOP nomination for Lite Gov.  And, you know as well as I that the GOP electorate just ain't that in to people who ditch their party, for whatever reason.  But, Sen. Denham has twice voted for unbalanced budgets, so this holdout is just rank hypocrisy.

More over the flip (With Poll!)