by tface1000 [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

According to a story today at the Progressive Democrats of America website, the Metro San Diego chapter of PDA has endorsed Vickie Butcher in the 52nd Congressional District. Excellent choice! Vickie is running for the seat that Duncan Hunter has held for forever and a day. His son, Duncan Jr., is running in his stead in the upcoming June primary. There are several Democratic candidates running in this race, but Butcher is the clear progressive choice, and I'm very happy to see an endorsement for Vickie Butcher from San Diego's Metro PDA Chapter.

Vickie generated much excitement among those present as she spoke against the war and for universal health care, election reform, and ending poverty. She plans to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus next January.

Vickie easily won the endorsement and is genuinely pleased to have the Metro chapter's support. A true progressive in every sense, she faces three candidates in the CA 52 Democratic primary on June 3, none of whom sought the endorsement.

more on the flip side....

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Another day, another update on how the budget crisis is hurting the state. Dozens of disabled persons gathered in San Bernadino yesterday to protest the delay, which willcause an interruption in funding for social services aimed at them.Senator Jack Scott (D-Pasadena) urges reason and warns that many state employees will lose their jobs soon if no budget is passed.

An opinion piece in the Los Angeles Daily news highlights the double standard the LAPD uses in enforcing federal laws. Why enforce federal law on marijuana but not immigration?

Sam Wakim, appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the North CoastRegional Water Quality Control Board, has resigned abruptly afterrevelations that he had reprinted a racist caricature of a driver's license. The Sacramento Bee has a copy of the fauxdriver's license; a picture really is worth a thousand words here.

There's more... 

Image courtesy of the San Bernadino County Sun.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Major Backsliding in Water Quality as California Water Board Acknowledges It Has Less Than a Third of Staff Necessary to Meet Legal Mandates

By Bill Jennings
Executive Director
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA)

The Executive Officer of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) has acknowledged that the Board is so understaffed that it can't meet its core regulatory mission of protecting the state's water quality.

This stunning admission came during Executive Officer Pamela Creedon's State of the Central Valley Region presentation at the 2 August 2007 meeting of the Board. The Central Valley Region covers nearly 40% of the State's land area, provides drinking water to two-thirds of the state's population and includes reservoirs storing nearly 30 million acre feet of water. According to state reports, virtually all of the waterways within the Region are impaired by an astonishing array of pesticides, metals, salts, pathogens, fertilizers and industrial chemicals.