Free Republic

The dozen measures on California's Nov. 4 general election ballot would cost taxpayers – and their children and grandchildren – $78.9 billion over the next 30 years, a Bee analysis has found. That includes $33.2 billion for four bond proposals, $30 billion for drug rehabilitation programs and another $15.5 billion to ensure a minimum amount of state funds for local jails and other law enforcement programs. On the plus side, if the drug rehab program worked, it could save taxpayers $32.5 billion and reduce the overall ballot's potential cost to $44.4 billion. But that's still a daunting price tag in...

Hundreds of firefighters Saturday battled a fast-growing wildfire that threatened homes and wineries in Napa Valley. Fire officials said the blaze had burned at least 300 acres in the rugged hills just outside Deer Park, a community about four miles east of the wine country town of St. Helena. The fire was about 40 percent contained Saturday morning, with full containment expected by day's end. CalFire spokeswoman Nancy Carniglia said the fire had destroyed at least two structures and threatened 200 homes and several wineries. About 100 Deer Park residents along Crestmont Drive and the surrounding area left their homes...

With credit markets in New York in crisis last week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent an extraordinary letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking for $7 billion. Although the governor has since withdrawn that request, it testifies to the dire state of his budget. Yet days before penning his note, the governor told an audience at the Commonwealth Club of California not to worry about the state's budget crunch and to approve $9.95 billion in new debt on the November ballot to build a bullet train to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco: "Just because we have a problem with...

SACRAMENTO – Eight years ago, 61 percent of California voters passed a novel initiative requiring treatment instead of jail or prison for tens of thousands of drug offenders. Supporters of that initiative are back with a follow-up measure that would require even greater leniency. Billionaire investor and liberal activist George Soros is helping fund Proposition 5 on the Nov. 4 ballot. The measure would prohibit sending paroled drug offenders back to prison for parole violations unless they commit a new felony, have a violent or serious record or are considered high risk by prison officials. The initiative would shorten parole...

A judge on Friday sentenced onetime Los Angeles city commissioner Leland Wong to five years in state prison, bringing an end to Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's "pay to play" investigation of the administration of former Mayor James K. Hahn. Wong, the son of Chinese immigrants who had served in the administrations of three Los Angeles mayors, was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs as his friends and family watched. The San Marino resident was found guilty in July on 14 felony counts, including bribery, conflict of interest, perjury and embezzlement. Prosecutors accused Wong of receiving monthly payments of $5,000,...

Los Angeles - Emphasizing the urgency of California’s Proposition 8--ProtectMarriage.com, today the Connecticut Supreme Court legalized gay marriage by a narrow margin, 4-3. Close votes also defined gay marriage in the states of Massachusetts and California. The State of Iowa was also scheduled this week to hear arguments on same sex marriage. In answer to today’s decision, the Protect Marriage Coalition and its volunteers are stepping up efforts and continuing their unprecedented grassroots campaign across the state of California. This weekend hundreds of thousands of lawn signs will appear on lawns in every community. Church services in some African American...

Hundreds of letters have been sent out advising current permit holders of impending revocation. The Sheriff's Department has begun the process of revoking hundreds of concealed weapon permits across Orange County. This week, department officials confirmed that 146 letters have been sent out advising current license holders that their permits to carry firearms in public – called CCWs – are being revoked. There are currently 1,024 permit holders. "The Department has determined that your identified risk does not meet the good cause threshold as required under the new CCW policy based upon the information you provided. As a result of...

Even in the best of times, the three major bond proposals on the November ballot would merit a thumbs down. Propositions 1A, 3, and 10 would put taxpayers another $16 billion in debt to fund some dubious projects. Proposition 1A spends $10 billion as a down payment on a massive bullet train project. Promoters, which includes the company responsible for Boston's infamous "Big Dig" disaster, claim the project can be completed for about $50 billion. However, a just released study by transportations experts, which includes a former president of the High Speed Rail Association and a former member of the...

PHOENIX, Arizona, October 9 -- Volunteers with the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) were assaulted a tenth time on October 3rd while peacefully distributing literature in support of traditional marriage at Arizona State University. TFP has organized a 33-day tour of cities and colleges across California and Arizona to educate the public on the importance of preserving traditional marriage. The last assault occurred at Arizona State University when a pro-homosexual man leaned out of his car window and deliberately sprayed TFP members on the sidewalk with pesticide, saying: “Have a drink!" “Although most of...

Roger Hedgecock Show's debate schedule - CA NOVEMBER 4TH BALLOT Starting Thurs, Oct 9, Roger hosts debates on state props. Th Oct 9 - Prop 1 (high speed rail bonds) F Oct 10 - Prop 2 (farm animals) M Oct 13 - Prop 4 (parental notification) T Oct 14 - Prop 5 (non-violent offenders, rehab) W Oct 15 - Prop 6 (gangs, illegals) Th Oct 16 - Prop 7 (energy mandates) F Oct 17 - Prop 8 (marriage) M Oct 20 - Prop 10 (alt fuel bonds) T Oct 21 - Prop 11 (redistricting) Local (San Diego County area): W...

Restoring the Second Amendment Why state and local governments should respect the right to bear arms Damon W. Root | October 7, 2008 For nearly 10 years, the case of Nordyke v. King has been winding its way through the California courts. At issue is a 1999 Alameda County ordinance banning the possession of firearms on county-owned property, a law enacted primarily to keep gun shows out of the county fairground. To date, the case has been heard by the district court, the California Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where gun show promoters...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will meet with legislative leaders Wednesday to try to find ways to fill an immediate hole in this year’s budget that could be as large as $5 billion, according to estimates from Senate Leader Don Perata, D-Oakland. Perata said the deficit could swell to $15 billion or more by the middle of next year. The bleak outlook comes amid a weakening state economy and an unprecedented meltdown on Wall Street, which has pinched corporate and municipal credit. “The options are all bad,” Perata said Wednesday. “I am not very optimistic we will get a tax increase,” which...

SAN FRANCISCO – Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the presidential candidates should end the smear campaigns and get back to the issues. Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are wasting time making accusations that have nothing to do with the topics Americans want to hear about, he said. “Look at what the presidential campaign has reduced down to: They now are accusing each other of things that have nothing to do with the economy, that have nothing to do with health care, that have nothing to do with the environment, that have nothing to do with, you...

[FPN - 10/7/08] - Many citizens throughout California (see their comments below) have joined a nationwide boycott against Hallmark Incorporated, in response to that company's introduction of so-called "same-sex couple" greeting cards. The boycott, which was announced in August by Family Policy Network, has begun to attract supporters in cities and towns throughout the nation. The text of the Boycott Hallmark petition reads as follows: To: Hallmark Cards CEO Donald J. Hall In Isaiah 5:20, God warns against exchanging good for evil by saying, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and...

SACRAMENTO -- The state budget approved only weeks ago is already falling into the red, and lawmakers may be forced to return to Sacramento this month to make emergency spending cuts and take other measures to keep California from running out of cash

Siskiyou County -- Some folks around here think the economic sky is falling and state lawmakers in Sacramento and Salem are ignoring their constituents in the hinterlands. "We have nothing in common with you people down south. Nothing," said Randy Bashaw, manager of the Jefferson State Forest Products ...."The sooner we're done with all you people, the better." Talking about secession has been a quasi-joking conversational saw since 1941, when five counties in the area started things by actually declaring themselves - briefly - to be the state of Jefferson. But now, with the economy in trouble and unemployment soaring,...

California’s economy, which would be the eighth biggest in the world if the state was a separate country, is teetering on the brink of a financial crisis intensified by the credit crunch. California is weeks away from running out of money. In a letter to Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s governor, last week admitted an immediate $7bn (€5bn, £4bn) was needed to pay for essential public services, such as police and fire-fighters. California would normally generate interim funding by issuing “revenue anticipation notes” in the short term credit markets to tide it over until tax revenues...

Yes, this problem is maddeningly big and complicated. But America is full of smart and caring people; surely there exists a handful of wise men and women who can stow their axes and their differences to right the ship. The solution back then was to create an entity called Municipal Assistance Corp. that raised money selling bonds backed by sales tax receipts and stock transfer taxes. The goal was to revive the city's economy while balancing its budget. It worked. A few years later, the budget was balanced and New York was back on its feet. Every crisis is different,...

Happy chickens equal happy consumers, say proponents of Proposition 2, a November ballot measure that calls for the humane treatment of farm animals. The initiative, proposed by the Humane Society of the United States, would ban farmers from raising egg-producing poultry, veal calves and pregnant pigs in small cages and crates by 2015. [snip] California is responsible for about 6 percent of all the nation's table eggs, a $330 million industry in 2007. [snip] The proposition has ignited a counterattack by large-scale conventional farmers and small, cage-free producers alike, who say if the proposition passes it will put them out...

It was near midnight Tuesday when the woman was shocked awake in bed by the howling scream of her pet cat from under the bed. Through glazed, half-open eyes, Jane Chanteau, a 73-year-old grandmother, saw a giant animal next to her bed. "I was half asleep and first I though it was a big dog, trying to get under the bed, and I whacked him on the rear end, like, 'You're not getting my baby,' " Chanteau said. The animal leaped onto a box in the corner of the room. Chanteau realized she'd just swatted a 4-foot mountain lion that...

Local supporters praise candidate's energy, down-to-earth qualities. "Electrifying," "genuine" and "inspiring" were a few of the adjectives that Orange County voters used to describe Sarah Palin after her rally at the Home Depot Center in Carson on Saturday. Although few were surprised by the content of her speech, most O.C. residents who made the trek north said they were simply thrilled to see her in person. "What surprised me was the enthusiasm here," said Brad Michaels from Laguna Hills. "The energy level was so high." For Michaels, the highlight of the speech was Palin talking about Sen. Barack Obama.

Hours before Sarah Palin was due to speak in the South Bay today, thousands of people arrived at the Home Depot Center for the chance to see the Republican candidate for vice president. Wearing red, white and blue attire, waving banners and chanting her name, they started lining up by 8 a.m. Soon, the queue of admirers and the simply curious snaked around the stadium and doubled back on itself. The relatively obscure Alaska governor became a national sensation last month when Sen. John McCain picked her as his vice presidential running mate. Imelda Preciado of Garden Grove was the...

Kuroda vs. Harden. First pitch, 9:07 CDT.

Gideon Codding and Rachel Bird recently were married in Placer County, near Sacramento. However, surprised by new marriage license forms created by state bureaucrats with "Party A" and "Party B," they jotted an explanatory "Groom" and "Bride' next to "party" designations. The couple soon discovered the strength of the pro-homosexual lobby in the state: The application was returned to Pastor Doug Bird, who officiated, with a form letter stating the license "does not comply with California State registration laws."

Fresh from the most-watched vice-presidential debate in history, GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin will appear at a Burlingame brunch fundraiser Sunday. Organizers said Friday they expect about 1,500 people, a capacity crowd, to hear Palin speak at the Hyatt Regency shortly before noon. Tickets are no longer available. ... "We're trying to find room for an extra 200 people,'' said Kristen Heuter, who is leading the fundraising effort. Heuter and local GOP party officials said the phones have been ringing off the hook since Thursday night's debate, which was seen by 69.9 million people, a record for a vice-presidential debate....

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal grand jury is investigating whether San Francisco's policy of offering sanctuary to undocumented immigrants violates U.S. laws against harboring people who are in the country illegally, city officials say. City Attorney Dennis Herrera said his office has hired a criminal defense lawyer to represent employees who might be questioned or asked for documents. He and Mayor Gavin Newsom said they would cooperate with the investigation. San Francisco, like about 80 other U.S. cities and five states, has a law prohibiting the use of its funds to help enforce federal immigration law or to question individuals...

In the race for a more environmentally friendly world, countries have taken a variety of different approaches to saving the planet. C urrently the countries of Oceania are taking new and interesting approaches to the cause, though not without controversy. Last year, New Zealand politicians passed a bill accepting a proposed emissions trading policy, aka "the Scheme." In this system, greenhouse gas emissions are taxed with the hope that such measures will change investment and consumption behaviors by New Zealanders and build a more environmentally-conscious economy. The system basically works by taxing "points of obligation," including any entity that emits...

SACRAMENTO -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, alarmed by the ongoing national financial crisis, warned Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson on Thursday that the state might need an emergency loan of as much as $7 billion from the federal government within weeks. The warning comes as California is close to running out of cash to fund day-to-day government operations and is unable to access routine short-term loans that it typically relies on to remain solvent.

The ongoing Nordyke case being heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has very favorable chances of getting the 2nd/RKBA "incorporated" under the 14th Amendment. This is the case that brings Heller out from just D.C. This case wpn't just be about California: it's a key step to 'locking in' the 2nd nationally. Some Law Enforcement associations - or at least their political leadership - will be opposing Incorporation of the 2nd Amendment. We suspect that isn't the position that most line officers, deputies and chiefs actually support. Thus, in support of the Nordyke appeal, we urgently need members...

LOS ANGELES - East L.A. — birthplace of the lowrider, Los Lobos and Oscar de la Hoya — is to Mexican-Americans what Harlem is to the black community. Now it wants to become its own city. Commonly mistaken for a part of Los Angeles, East L.A. is actually an unincorporated section of Los Angeles County, with more than 130,000 people — 96 percent of them Latino — packed into 7.4 square miles.

Lunch hour on Figueroa Street, downtown Los Angeles: Stepping onto the sidewalk, he said: "Let me see that sign." The sign held by TFP volunteer Mr. Thomas Schneider read "God's marriage = 1 man, 1 woman = children." ...Just then another businessman turned to Mr. Schneider and chimed in: "You're 120% percent correct!.." ...[A] pro-homosexual woman attempted to stop our campaign. "You should really stop what you're doing and leave. If violence breaks out," she told me, "you will be responsible for it. You are inciting people to acts of hate and violence." Her face muscles and hands quivered and...

With jobs like mortgage broker, investment banker, stock analyst and others that once looked solid - and profitable - suddenly looking not so good in the wake of America's looming financial difficulties, a Daily News Special Report revealed what most of us already know despite heavy doses of conventional wisdom to the contrary: Teachers and other school employees do pretty darn well. Especially if they work for the Los Angeles Unified School District. According to information provided to the Daily News by the LAUSD, the average salary for teachers is $63,000 - not too shabby that. But more than 8,500...

After a tumultuous year, lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally get a break from one another – and, boy, do they need it. Democrats grew angry this week after Schwarzenegger finished vetoing 35 percent of the bills on his desk, a modern record. They're particularly incensed that the Republican governor issued a standard message for 136 of his 415 vetoes in which he blamed the state's 85-day budget delay. Schwarzenegger's unusual veto approach capped a divisive two months in which he turned combative with lawmakers as budget talks broke down. The governor drew their ire in late July after signing...

5:37 CDT first pitch at Wrigley Field in Chicago! Dempster vs. Lowe. Line-ups will be announced soon.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the California DREAM Act Tuesday night for the second time in two years, once again shutting out undocumented students from state financial aid. The act would have granted undocumented students access to financial aid administered by the UC system, the CSU system and the state's community colleges, including grant, scholarship, work-study and loan programs. Schwarzenegger vetoed an earlier version of the DREAM Act last October. It was first introduced in February by State Sen. Gilbert Cedillo, D-Los Angeles. In his veto message on Tuesday, the governor wrote that it was not appropriate to pass the bill...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a proposed Harvey Milk Day. The measure would have set aside the birthday of the slain gay activist/politician in his memory and encourage public schools to commemorate and educate about the history of California's first openly gay politician. Schwarzenegger's veto came on the last day possible to kill the legislation introduced by openly gay Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and passed by lawmakers. In his veto message issued Tuesday, the governor explained his reasons for vetoing the measure. “I respect the author's intent to designate May 22nd as 'Harvey Milk Day' and a day...

Question of the Day for Wednesday, Oct. 1: Starting today, most dogs and cats in the city of Los Angeles must be spay/neutered by the time they are 4 months old.

WASHINGTON -- Conservative Republicans stole the spotlight with their opposition to the $700-billion financial rescue plan that fizzled in the House Monday, but they had help from a slew of liberal California Democrats who joined them to defeat the bill. Those Californians found themselves in the unfamiliar position of not only standing with some of the most staunchly conservative Republicans in the House, but also voting against a traditional ally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who campaigned tirelessly for passage. Among the 14 California Democrats refusing to endorse the bailout plan were Southern Californians, including Reps. Adam B. Schiff...

Likely voters gave Republican Tom McClintock an eight point advantage over Democrat Charlie Brown in the race for the congressional seat in the 4th Congressional District. The poll was conducted by veteran pollster Val Smith, Ph.D. A telephone survey of high-propensity registered voters within the 4th Congressional District was conducted between the dates of Sept 22 and Sept 24, 2008. The sample size of 400 yields a sampling error of less than +/- 5.0%. McClintock’s lead rose to a 53% to 39% margin when respondents were read campaign messages from both Brown and McClintock. McClintock has strong support among Republicans...

On the edge of downtown Los Angeles, overlooking the 110 Freeway, stands a 29-story office building that boasts many of the trappings of a modern corporate headquarters: a cafeteria with flat-screen TVs, a state-of-the-art media production center, an on-site dry-cleaning service. The tower is the headquarters of the Los Angeles Unified School District - home to more than 3,400 employees. They are the core of a massive bureaucracy that has surged in recent years even as the number of students and teachers has dropped. And 3,200 more administrators and support staff are scattered throughout the city, as top officials acknowledge...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents announced Monday that 1,157 people have been arrested in an illegal immigration sweep in California. The sweep, which ended last week, was conducted during the past three weeks in Southern California and the Bay Area.The operation led to the arrest of more than 300 people in San Diego and Imperial counties, The San Diego Union Tribune reported Monday. At least 125 of those suspects have criminal histories, the newspaper said.Most of them had returned to the United States after being deported or have failed to comply with court orders to leave the country, ICE spokeswoman...

After decades of immigration from Asia and Latin America, Silicon Valley has hit a linguistic milestone that is rare in America: For the first time, a majority of Santa Clara County residents speak a language other than English at home. In 2007, Santa Clara was one of just 10 counties in the United States where more than 50 percent of residents speak a foreign language at home, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Monday. Most of those counties are home to Spanish speakers on the Mexican border or multilingual populations in large cities like New York, Los Angeles...

...Some time into the campaign, we found out that Disneyland was in the process of hosting a Disney "gay week" – not the best time to be in town. In fact, several police officers asked us to be careful and showed apprehension about the possibility of a pro-homosexual demonstration. Violent Threat against TFP VolunteersA heavy set man wearing a blue t-shirt and sun glasses paused at the crosswalk: "If I had the means, I would shoot you all right now," he said bluntly. He wasn't joking. His threat made me think of the message of Our Lady of Fatima when...

PATRICIANS: ONE. PLEBEIANS: ZERO California is said to lead the way when it comes to cultural upheavals. At least that used to be the case before Governors Grey Davis and Ahnold turned the place into a socialist paradise driving industry to Nevada and driving taxpayers to distraction. It’s bad enough that English has been relegated to a secondary language out on the Left Coast, supplanted by Espanol. It’s bad enough that the “Nation of Aztlan” has designs on “reclaiming” California, and most of our Southwest for Mexico. It’s bad enough that California is home to that bastion of Leftist “thought,”...

When two Catholics... learned that Sacramento Coadjutor Bishop Jaime Soto was to be the keynote speaker at the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries conference in Long Beach on Sept. 18, they decided to attend themselves to see and hear the talk in person. They say what they witnessed was a bishop who “courageously but gently” gave a clear presentation of Church teaching on sexuality.... But there was noting ambiguous about Bishop Soto’s remarks to the group. “Sexual relations between people of the same sex can be alluring for homosexuals, but it deviates from the true meaning...

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California lawmakers enjoy a perk not available to their colleagues in any other state: unchecked use of gasoline charge cards that stick taxpayers with the bill. Through the first seven months of the year, California taxpayers have spent $220,000 to pay for lawmakers' gasoline, according to a review of records requested by The Associated Press. That includes July, when lawmakers already were past their deadline to approve a budget and the state faced a $15.2 billion deficit.

California’s Illegal Nanny-State by: Bethany Stotts, September 25, 2008 The debate over illegal immigration—a culture war fought on the dual fronts of terminology and selective media coverage—reached another milestone this September, when the California state appeals court decided that a class-action lawsuit represented by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) was improperly dismissed by the Yolo County superior court. The out-of-state plaintiffs filed suit in 2006 after California passed a law providing in-state tuition for exemption holders, including foreign nationals and illegal immigrants. The complaint (pdf), issued by IRLI, argues that the California statute violates federal law and the U.S....

San Francisco resident Carlos Dimaano, 50, a recent immigrant from the Philippines, speaks English in his job at a community center. But when he goes home to cook dinner for his 88-year-old father, the two lapse into their native Tagalog. The men are among the almost 43 percent of Californians who speak a language other than English at home, a proportion far higher than in any other state in the country, according to census figures released today. Speaking another language at home doesn't mean they don't also speak English in the home. But Dimaano, who immigrated just a year ago,...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California's sputtering economy is going to get worse, a report released on Wednesday said. The state's jobless rate will hold above 7 percent through next year as the homes slump grinds on and finance payrolls shrink, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. A "strong undercurrent of housing and finance generated weakness" is dragging down growth in the eighth-largest economy in the world, the report said. "Our near term quarterly forecast has things getting worse," it said. "Unemployment will continue to increase to the thin air of 7.4 percent by the end of the year and it...

By Charles Lomeli Lomeli is the Solano County treasurer-tax collector-county clerk. Guest commentary The residents of California should know that Article 4, Section 12 (c) 3 of the California Constitution reads as follows: "The Legislature shall pass the budget bill by midnight on June 15th of each year." The Legislature passed a budget bill on Sept. 15, three months late. The residents of the state have suffered unnecessarily due to this inaction. The state economy, one of the largest in the world, has been harmed by this inaction. The lack of a budget has impacted the residents in Solano County....