Free Republic

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - The State Senate passed a California budget Saturday after a lone Republican Sen. crossed over party lines and voted for the state spending plan.</p> <p>It marks the end of weeks of partisan bickering in the Senate over tax hikes and spending cuts needed to fill a $23.6 billion budget hole.</p>

Ernest_at_the_Beach's CalGov2002 bump list logo: calgov2002: for old calgov2002 articles.  calgov2002: for new calgov2002 articles. Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register The old bump list is locked. Click on the above link for articles before March 12, 2002. The new bump list gets all the new pings, and old articles fall off the bottom of the list. There already have been more than 250 listings, so I have listed below titles from the bump lists. I removed the "To:" line and some duplicate listings. Until there is a new system to replace the current very useful bump list...

<p>California Gov. Gray Davis is negotiating with Oracle Corp. about rescinding a controversial $95 million software contract with the state. But it won't be easy to unwind the deal or assess the potential impact on the company's finances.</p> <p>The six-year software deal, signed without competitive bidding in May 2001, has turned into an imbroglio that has led to the resignation of two state officials, a probe of potential document shredding and fears for Gov. Davis's re-election bid later this year. Besides issues about the cost and need for Oracle's software, Republican opponents are raising questions about the timing of a $25,000 political contribution from the company to the Democratic governor. Gov. Davis, who is backing an investigation by California's attorney general, denied knowledge of the deal and said there was no connection with the donation.</p>

CAPITOL JOURNAL The Oracle Debacle Coulda, Shoulda Been Prevented Coulda, shoulda: If Gov. Gray Davis' Cabinet minions had heeded his incessant lecturing, they would have avoided the state's embarrassing software scandal. Davis' lecture goes like this: When somebody says you must act now, that's when you freeze. Beware. Be skeptical. Or, as Cabinet Secretary Susan Kennedy puts it: "If somebody comes to you and says, 'I need something and it has to be right now,' the answer is 'No.' "Where I failed was, I broke the cardinal rule." Kennedy added the final, crucial signature on a "governor's action request"...

Davis aides start talks with Oracle to drop contract By Ray Locker ASSOCIATED PRESS May 6, 2002 SACRAMENTO – The state's finance director began talks with Oracle Corp. Monday to discuss killing the state contract auditors called wasteful, an administration spokesman said. Finance Director Tim Gage will meet this week with Oracle executives to negotiate an end to the state's six-year, $95 million, no-bid contract to buy and administer database management software from Oracle, said Steve Maviglio, press secretary for Gov. Gray Davis. The talks could take up to two weeks, Maviglio said. Poll shows high disapproval numbers for...

Official Describes Rush to OK $95-Million Oracle Pact Probe: Testimony comes on first day of hearings on deal, approved with little study, no bidding. ... Cynthia Curry, a top attorney for the Department of General Services, one of the state agencies that approved the deal, told lawmakers that she was given the full Oracle contract to review the day it was signed, and was so concerned about it that she went over the head of her boss to complain. After the deal was signed, she recalled, General Services Director Barry Keene got a call from Gov. Gray Davis' Cabinet...

No Plans, No Graduation Rite, Seniors Told Policy: Only students bound for college, a trade or military can take part in ceremony. More than 3,700 seniors at eight San Fernando Valley high schools may have taken all the English, history and math classes required for a diploma, but if they want to cross the stage at graduation, they'll first need to take big steps for their future. Under a new, much-debated policy, those students will be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies only if they have committed to post-secondary education or training--whether university, community college, trade school or the...

<p>LOS ANGELES -- President Bush plans to travel to south-central Los Angeles on Monday to mark the 10-year anniversary of riots that left more than 50 people dead, according to representatives of some of the places he's scheduled to visit.</p>

Racial privacy initiative heading for state ballotWard Connerly wants March 2004 vote By William Brand STAFF WRITER SACRAMENTO -- Backers of the proposed Racial Privacy Initiative say they intend to submit enough signatures of registered voters Friday to ensure the measure qualifies for the California ballot. But they also hope the measure won't be placed before voters until the March 2004 state primary. "There's already a lot of controversy concerning the governor's race this fall," Ward Connerly, the University of California regent who is the initiative's chief sponsor, said Tuesday. The initiative would ban state and local governments from...

<p>When America's best symphony orchestras evaluate potential musicians, the candidates audition "blind"; they play their instruments behind a screen so the auditioning committee does not know the musicians' race, sex or appearance but only hears the quality of their performance. Auditions are thus an honest meritocracy, and better symphonies are the result.</p>

Possibility of upset in governor's race looms Once-humdrum GOP contest now a battle One of the most wildly unpredictable, even bizarre, political campaigns California has seen hurtles toward Election Day with the real possibility of an upset in the governor's race that would have been unimaginable a few weeks ago. As the new year dawned, it seemed that a long general election campaign between Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, and Republican Richard Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles, had already begun. Riordan, his focus fixed on November, was already running television commercials condemning Davis for "gross mismanagement" of ...

Saturday November 10 10:57 AM ET WTO Invites China to Join DOHA, Qatar (AP) - The World Trade Organization approved the membership of China on Saturday, bringing the world's most populous country, with 1.2 billion consumers, firmly into the global marketplace. With a round of applause, trade ministers from almost all the WTO's 142 members unanimously voted in favor of China's application for membership, after more 15 years of negotiations. China will become a full member 30 days after its parliament ratifies the agreement and informs the WTO. That may happen as soon as Sunday. The approval of once-isolated communist ...