by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

On June 3, I talked to Assembly womanNicole Parra in San Francisco. Nothing too important really, just a friendly, hi, I'm Brian, the evil blogger kind of thing. She was in town to support Asm. Mark Leno for Senate. It was all very cordial, despite the fact that she's made noises about thinking the Republican candidate for her seat, she's termed out, was better than the Democratic candidate, Fran Florez. By the way, I can't seem to find a website for Fran Florez...strange.

You see, the Florez family and the Parra family have something of a grudge match going on in the Central Valley. State Sen. Dean Florez campaigned against Parra's father for a county supervisor seat way back when, and Nicole is still smartin' from that.

Well, today we hear that Parra is having a presser with a "Republican party official." I honestly have no clue what this is about. Will she officially endorse Danny Gilmore, the Republican candidate? Will she switch parties? Vow to not vote for the budget?

Who knows? We'll let you know when we hear something.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Hey all.  Sitting here in the spin room at the Kodak Theater prior to tonight's Democratic debate.  The place is kind of swamped with media, and I guess Blitzer's doing his live show just outside, so there are a lot of sign-holders afoot.

Earlier today I was down at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, a community college near downtown, to watch a townhall meeting with Senator Barack Obama.  A lot of his Southern California supporters were on hand, including Assemblyman Ted Lieu, labor leader Maria Elena Durazo, Congressmen Xavier Becerra and Adam Schiff, LA City Councilmembers Yvonne Burke and Bill Rosendahl, and State Senators Dean Florez, Gil Cedillo, and Majority Leader Gloria Romero.  I have as much respect for Senators Cedillo and Romero as anyone in the State Senate.  They have been at the forefront of taking on tough issues; in the case of Sen Romero, prison and sentencing reform (Obama expressed support for eliminating the crack/cocaine powder sentencing and for a more intelligent criminal justice system that deals with nonviolent offenders in a different way), and in the case of Sen. Cedillo, immigration measures like driver's licenses and the DREAM Act (which Obama said he would sign).  It means a lot to me that they are on board Obama's campaign.

More...

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

I know I have been quiet the last few days, really it has to do with a slow news cycle when it comes to California state politics and quality of life issues. Today, it is time fore a link filled post, everything remotely tied to our usual topics of discussion.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Original cartoon published Aug. 24, 2003 in The Fresno Bee. Republished courtesy of SW Parra © 2003

By Frank Pecarich
Retired Soil Scientist

I was born in Bakersfield and lived there until I graduated from college. In the Fall of the year, the leaves dried and fell to the ground and the smell of autumn was in the air. Football in Bakersfield in the 1960’s was an iconic ritual and virtually everybody in town was caught up in it.

Well, I don’t live in Bakersfield anymore but in addition to football in the Central Valley it appears that there is a continuing iconic rivalry which is getting to be of huge proportions. It too can be compared to a rival football ritual. A couple of years ago a Fresno Bee article and political cartoonist Steve W. Parra, captured our imaginations by having beleaguered Dean Florez fill in for Charlie Brown and the annual ritual of Lucy Van Pelt, aka Nicole Parra, pulling the football away from Charlie just as he was about to kick it.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

Oxymoron right? Well, not so much it turns out. The Schwarzenegger administration purchased 1,138 "flex-fuel" vehicles, touting them as a way for California to help kick our dependence on oil. Good idea right? Not, if there is no way to fuel them with ethanol. These cars and trucks spew more pollution in the air when running on regular gas than the fleet vehicles they replaced. The Senate has called hearing for August 15th in response to the Mercury News investigation which disclosed this oversight. Merc:

The fuel needed to transform the vehicles into clean-driving machines is a high-grade blend of ethanol. The problem: Not a single ethanol station is available to the fleet.

"This seems to be a pattern," said Sen. Dean Florez, D-Bakersfield, chairman of the Governmental Organization Committee. "The governor loves to take the time to pose and talk about the greening of California, but very little gets done in terms of doing the hard work."

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