DAN WALTERS COLUMN
Some Look To Redevelopment Taxes To Help Close State Budget Gap
Over the years, as California politicians have contended with income-outgo gaps in the state budget, they have often turned to upfront and backdoor loans, accounting gimmicks, and raids on various pots of money to ease or avoid the difficult alternatives of raising taxes and cutting spending. The most famous, or infamous, of these "solutions," at least among budget mavens, is ERAF, an acronym that stands for the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund, devised in the early 1990s as then-Gov. Pete Wilson and lawmakers faced a horrendous, recession-caused budget crisis. 

ROBERT NOVAK COLUMN
Angry Republicans In Orange County
When House Republican leaders left Washington for their Fourth of July break, they felt good about outwitting the Democratic majority. The feeling was not reciprocated 3,000 miles away, where conservative Orange County Republican activists were drafting an ultimatum. The Lincoln Club is telling GOP leaders of both the House and Senate that it is too late to repent. They must go – or else lose big money. 

PETER SCHRAG COLUMN
The Initiative Road To Terminal Government Gridlock
The California legislative process, again locked in a budget stalemate, may be in terminal atrophy. But with 10 initiatives now officially on the November ballot, the political operatives of the fourth branch of government seem to be doing just fine. The more they succeed, the more California's elected government will be paralyzed. The November ballot, like an old-fashioned wedding, has something old, something new, something borrowed and maybe even something blue. 

MICHELLE STEELE COLUMN
California Chases Its Own Tail On Taxes
In 2003, United Parcel Service made a seemingly insignificant decision that continues to save the company millions of dollars every year. Drivers shaved seconds off each delivery by minimizing the number of left turns. By avoiding the left turn lane, the company saved 28 million miles, 31,000 metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions and over 3 million gallons of gasoline. Facing a projected $17 billion budget deficit, it's time for California's legislators to employ similar out-of-the-box thinking to solve our deficit. 

DANIEL BORENSTEIN COLUMN
School Reform Has Run Amok
In 2007, Hercules High School met federal academic performance standards but failed to meet state requirements. Meanwhile, down the highway, Bayview Elementary in San Pablo failed the federal requirements but reached the state's benchmarks. Welcome to the perplexing world of academic performance measures. California public schools are caught between two masters, the state and federal governments. 

BUDGET
Senate Meets, But Not About Budget
Eight days into the fiscal year and 23 days past the June 15 constitutional deadline, state lawmakers have yet to even schedule a floor vote on the state budget. They and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are still at odds over how to close a $15.2 billion shortfall in the $101 billion general fund. The entire budget proposed by the Republican governor is $144 billion, including bond and special funds. 

BUSINESS AND LABOR
Restaurants Sue Over Nutrition Posting Law
California's restaurant industry is taking San Francisco to court over a city law that requires chain restaurants to post calorie totals and other nutritional information on menus and menu boards. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court last week, says the law set to take effect Sept. 20 lacks flexibility, will confuse customers, illegally skirts state and federal authority, and violates the restaurants' First Amendment rights. 

Big Sur Fire Crews Worry About Hotter Weather
High temperatures and low humidity are making the job of fighting wildfires in California much more difficult, state officials said Monday, but firefighters are making steady, if slow, progress against major blazes in Big Sur and Santa Barbara County. There are 330 fires around the state and another 1,450 have been contained since June 20. In Big Sur, the Basin Complex fire had charred 80,186 acres by Monday night and was 18 percent contained. 

Lawmakers Call For Probe Of Chemical Plant
Three California lawmakers called Monday for an investigation of a Mojave Desert chemical plant after a Chronicle series about a woman who has battled for a decade to convince regulators that toxic substances at the plant have harmed workers. Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Sally Lieber said the story of former chemical worker Rita Smith's fight against the company, now named Searles Valley Minerals, "was very accurate in describing a situation that is beyond lax" at the plant in Trona, a small town in San Bernardino County. 

WellPoint Settles With California Hospitals Over Rescissions
Anthem Blue Cross parent WellPoint Inc. agreed Monday to pay $11.8 million to settle claims from about 480 California hospitals that it failed to cover the bills of patients it dropped after they were treated -- a controversial practice known as rescission. The hospitals sued after scores of their patients contended in their own lawsuits that Blue Cross had illegally dropped them. 

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Undocumented Students Have A Degree Of Anxiety
He took 15 AP classes in high school, and kicks himself for passing up two others. Now, he is graduating from UCLA, with a double major in English and Chicano Studies and a B-plus grade point average. But for all his success, Miguel does not share the full-bodied exuberance of the graduating seniors who marched last month five abreast into Pauley Pavilion, belting out the '60s hit "Build Me Up, Buttercup." A native of Puebla, Mexico, he is an illegal immigrant. 

California Dreaming -- Can McCain Win?
John McCain is starting a California campaign that might already be over. The Republican presidential candidate opens a handful of political offices this week in the nation's most populous state, the historical turf of Reagan and Nixon that in recent years has become a Democratic fortress in presidential contests. The Arizona senator boasts that he can win California's 55 electoral votes, the biggest prize on Nov. 4, but he's running as the Republican successor to GOP President George Bush, whose approval rating is at an all-time low in the state. 

Former South Bay Lawmaker Considers Run At Governorship
Former South Bay Republican congressman Tom Campbell - a fiscal conservative, social moderate and respected academic who twice before unsuccessfully sought statewide office, is eyeing a possible run in 2010 to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Campbell, 55, filed papers last week to form an "exploratory committee" for governor, which allows him to begin raising money for a potential bid. 

Remap Proposal Worries Civil Rights Groups
Proponents of a redistricting ballot measure have been hard at work casting Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata as the villainous obstacle to reform. They have chastised him as a self-serving politician plotting a campaign against the initiative with interest groups and lobbyists to preserve the Legislature's ability to draw its own political boundaries. Meanwhile, the Oakland Democrat is providing the operational support for the opposition campaign — the newly christened Citizens for Accountability: No on the Power Grab. 

OC Republican Donors Threaten To Cut The Party Off
The Lincoln Club of Orange County, a veritable ATM for the GOP, is threatening to revoke withdrawal privileges if congressional Republicans don't elect new leadership this fall. Dissatisfaction with lawmakers in Washington has been bubbling up for some time and finally Rich Wagner, Lincoln Club president and Chip Hanlon, a board member, decided to put their thoughts in writing and essentially issue an ultimatum to the people who each year benefit from between $2 million and $3 million from OC Republican donors. 

TAXES
L.A. County Property Tax Base At $1.1 Trillion
Los Angeles County's property tax base grew to $1.1 trillion, a 6.9% increase over last year, Assessor Rick Auerbach said. The assessment takes into account 2.7 million residential and commercial properties, including real estate, business equipment, boats and aircraft. This year's increase exceeded the county's expectation of 5%. Auerbach said that Proposition 13 is the main reason for this year's increase, despite a sliding real estate market. The constitutional amendment, he said, has a stabilizing effect on assessed values. 

Adopt New Highway Sign Rules
Caltrans officials have a difficult decision to make: Allow all organizations, except the most blatantly racist ones, to participate in the popular and useful Adopt-a-Highway program, or drop the program entirely lest the state agency lose its say in which organizations are appropriate players. The question hangs in the air because a federal court has decreed that the California Department of Transportation may not deny the San Diego Minutemen the opportunity to conduct highway shoulder cleanup work on Interstate 5 near a Border Patrol checkpoint. 

Again, O.C. School Districts Escape Dire Straits
The threat of massive teacher layoffs has loomed in the news over the past several months, scaring parents into spearheading a grass-roots campaign to thwart Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed suspension of Proposition 98, the law that guarantees a minimum of public education funding. But like many other government-induced scares, this one was mostly hokum. 

Regulate The Sale Of Ammunition For Handguns
Guns don't kill people; bullets do. Mainly bullets from handguns, the source of 60 percent of murders in California. And yet the sale of handgun ammunition is unregulated in the state. Felons, gang members and others who are banned from possessing handguns can buy as many rounds of bullets as they want, no questions asked. And they apparently do, obtaining tens of thousands of rounds each year, according to a RAND Corporation study. 

The Desert Sun
Roadwork to cause delays in La Quinta
Valley residents and visitors traveling in La Quinta likely will encounter roadwork - and subsequent delays - along the city's bustling Highway 111 retail corridor through the rest of the year, officials say. La Quinta last week embarked on a $1.9 million project to widen portions of the highway, bringing most of its 2.1-mile stretch up to six lanes, Public Works Director Tim Jonasson said. The city also has plans to coordinate traffic signals in an effort to improve traffic flow and to add extra left-turn lanes to handle more cars pulling into retail areas - a move Jonasson called "the big improvement for shopping."

The Desert Sun
Police seek missing 21-year-old Palm Springs man
Police are asking for the public's help in their search for a 21-year-old Palm Springs man who has been reported missing under "suspicious circumstance," according to the Palm Springs Police Department. Spencer Nicholas Karas was last seen June 30. His vehicle was discovered abandoned in Thermal a day later, police said. Sgt. Mitch Spike, public information officer for the police department, said he could not further explain the "suspicious circumstance" of Karas' disappearance.

The Desert Sun
Energy consultant plots conservation plan
Cutting energy use by 30 percent in five years is not enough for Palm Desert. City officials are awaiting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signing of Assembly Bill 811 - the city-sponsored bill to create low-cost financing programs for energy-efficient home improvements. But they also are retooling their conservation programs into a comprehensive sustainability plan. "Each (city) department is already doing lots of good things, lots of action toward sustainability, but there's not a lot of coordination," said Ted Flanigan, the Irvine consultant the city hired to help with the project.

The Desert Sun
Tribe, sheriff agree to work together
Training deputies to be more culturally sensitive is one element of an agreement between the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department signed Monday. In a mid-morning ceremony marked by much camaraderie, tribal leader Robert Salgado and Sheriff Stanley Sniff agreed to listen to each other's concerns. "I think, this is a start in the communications," Salgado said, holding a sacred eagle feather and standing with Sniff and James Fletcher, superintendent of the Southern California Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Desert Sun
Flex alert issued through Thursday
The California Independent System Operator has issued a flex alert that is in effect through Thursday because of high temperatures across the state. The agency encourages consumers to reduce electricity usage in the afternoons when consumption typically peaks because of air conditioners. To save energy: Turn off all unnecessary lights Refrain from using major appliances until after 7 p.m. Turn air conditioners to 78 degrees or higher

Press-Enterprise
DA won't seek death penalty in Moreno Valley shooting
The Riverside County district attorney's office has opted not to pursue the death penalty against a Moreno Valley man charged with the 2007 drive-by shooting of a 15-year-old boy. Prosecutors filed a motion saying they do not intend to seek capital punishment against Christopher Butler, 20, of Moreno Valley, who is facing murder, attempted murder and gang charges, according to court records. Butler is accused of killing Allen Anthony White, 15, as he was standing at the corner of John F. Kennedy Drive and Thyme Place on Feb. 12, 2007. Police said they were rival gang members. White's family disputes his involvement in a gang.

Press-Enterprise
More Inland seniors getting HIV, AIDS, experts say
Thanks to Viagra and other popular erectile dysfunction drugs, older Inland residents are having more sex than ever before, and more are getting HIV and AIDS, experts say. A recent Riverside County report found that more than 20 percent of the county's new HIV/AIDS cases in the past five years have been in men and women ages 50 and up. Many older people are re-entering the dating scene after decades in committed relationships. For those who came of age before AIDS was a threat, their education about safe sex often lags behind that of their grandchildren, county health officials say.

Press-Enterprise
Lockheed seeking cleanup costs
Lockheed Martin Corp. has filed a lawsuit asking the federal government to help pay for more than $100 million in groundwater cleanup costs associated with pollution from the company's Cold War-era operations in the Inland area. The company manufactured and tested rocket engines, leaving chemical contamination that leached into the ground. Lockheed has spent tens of millions cleaning up pollution that came from its former plant east of Redlands nearly to Colton -- a distance of eight miles.

Press-Enterprise
Cleaner, greener garbage trucks hit Inland road
A trash collection service is coming clean. Waste Management of the Inland Empire has debuted five garbage trucks that run on compressed natural gas, or CNG, which is cleaner-burning than diesel. The trucks will be used in residential Beaumont and Banning. The trucks are quieter than their diesel counterparts and emit less pollution, company officials said. Five more CNG garbage trucks will be added, also for use in the Pass area, said Lily V. Quiroa, a Waste Management spokeswoman. The company, which serves Riverside and San Bernardino counties, opted to use the trucks in the Pass because there is a CNG fueling station in Banning, Quiroa said.

Press-Enterprise
San Jacinto City Council appoints new member
The San Jacinto City Council Monday night voted 4-0 to appoint City Treasurer Jim Potts to the council seat vacated by Robert Ritchie on July 2. Potts first had to resign as city treasurer, an elected office, in order to accept the appointment to replace Ritchie for the last few months of Ritchie's term. Potts showed up to last night's special council meeting with a resignation letter. He wouldn't have been permitted to hold both offices at once.

Press-Enterprise
After 37 years, Corona-Norco district saying goodbye to crucial link
Some might say Wayne Hayashibara is synonymous with the Corona-Norco Unified School District. "Wayne is the link to this community from this district," said Corona-Norco board member Sharon Martinez. "He remembers everybody's names. He remembers their families. He will be truly, truly missed." Hayashibara, 62, retired June 30 as the school district's coordinator for community outreach. In all, he spent 37 years with the district as a teacher and administrator, much of it working in the community to help students find jobs, secure grants or build relationships between the district and community groups.

Press-Enterprise
Inland industrial real estate market also hurting
The industrial real estate market in the Inland region, following a declining housing market, $5-a-gallon diesel fuel, and perhaps overly optimistic speculative development, is underperforming compared to recent years, experts said. Chris Masino, an industrial specialist at the Temecula office of Grubb & Ellis, said the area had an industrial vacancy rate of about 7.6 percent in the second quarter, compared to an average of around 5 percent since 2005. Sales and lease rates, he said, have fallen as a result. Masino said small businesses have been particularly hurt by the recent decline of the economy, and that some entrepreneurs have been forced to start working from their homes, rather than renew their leases.

Press-Enterprise
OPINION: Campus cons?
The Legislature has no excuse for leaving California students in private trade schools without any protections against unscrupulous educational operations. The state has long needed more coherent regulations for these profitable career schools, and legislators should adopt basic safeguards as quickly as possible. California's existing oversight of for-profit trade schools lapsed on July 1, leaving no protections for students. SB 823, by Sen. Don Perata, D-Alameda, would have created a new regulatory structure for these schools, but the bill stalled in the Assembly last week.

Press-Enterprise
OPINION: Luxury training?
Public agencies should be thrifty with tax dollars regardless of economic conditions. For school districts, holding management seminars at resort hotels is an inappropriate extravagance. The districts should find more affordable sites for future conferences. Seminars, symposia and refresher courses are valuable tools for any organization. But in the public sector, they should not also serve as perks. That is the only way to describe the Hemet Unified district's decision to train at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, and Riverside Unified's similar arrangements at a location the district declines to name.

The Desert Sun
OPINION: Vector board's dropped lawsuit first of many changes needed
By dropping its lawsuit against Desert Hot Springs, the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District has made a good decision that shows its board of trustees is trying to move forward. The district still has to pay more than $70,000 to the city for its legal costs. But it's likely a smaller price to pay than to allow this lawsuit to drag on against the city's appointee to the board, who has, at times, acted as a whistleblower, calling needed attention to the district. Vector control district officials filed the lawsuit last June, claiming Desert Hot Springs appointee Karl Baker sexually harassed an employee during a stint on the board in 2002. Baker returned to the board in 2006.