Halt to federal funding could doom KVCR-TV
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/06/2010 03:35:12 AM PST

It was National Public Radio that angered Republicans this fall, but it could be local public television stations that feel conservatives’ wrath.

Since public radio giant NPR fired commentator Juan Williams in October, more and more Republican lawmakers — including Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands — have called for cutting off federal funding for public broadcasting. If they manage to do that, San Bernardino County’s local public radio station would probably get by, but the local public television station would likely be in trouble.

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10:51 PM PST on Sunday, December 5, 2010

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – They will join a shrunken Republican caucus that has lost influence on annual budget bills, but the newest members of Inland Southern California’s legislative delegation look forward to getting to work.

Mike Morrell and Tim Donnelly, avowed anti-tax conservatives from adjoining Assembly districts, will be sworn in today amid massive budget problems for the state.

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11:13 PM PST on Sunday, December 5, 2010

By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

Janice Rutherford first got involved in politics as a background player, serving on city commissions and working as a staffer for a state legislator.

But in 2000, when looking for somebody to run for Fontana City Council, she found herself being urged to run.

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11:05 PM PST on Sunday, December 5, 2010

By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

After new bids were sought in September, a contract to handle criminal defense for those who cannot afford lawyers goes before the Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

A committee of public defenders from three Northern California counties reviewed the proposals and recommended that Riverside-based Blumenthal Law Offices receive the $8.8 million contract.

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Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/06/2010 03:55:18 AM PST

COLTON – Many will find the two new faces set to join the City Council dais Tuesday evening very familiar.

Mayor-elect David Zamora and District 2 Councilman-elect Frank Gonzales both have long histories here.

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Group asks for help passing act
Bethania Palma Markus, Staff Writer
Created: 12/06/2010 05:12:08 AM PST

SAN DIMAS – About 25 people crowded into the field office of Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, on Friday afternoon, seeking his support for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

Dreier was in Washington, D.C. but the group handed petitions to his office staff. They complained the Republican congressman backpedaled on support of the bill, which would provide immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children with a path to citizenship if they go to college or join the military.

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By John Howard | 12/05/10 6:00 PM PST

By definition, transition reflects change.

But as Gov.-elect Jerry Brown prepares to take office on Jan. 3, the most remarkable characteristic of his transition is not what’s happening – it’s what’s not happening.

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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Monday, Dec. 6, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The decline of the California Legislature from an institution once considered to be a model for other states to something held in disdain by nearly 90 percent of voters is a case study in unintended consequences.

Misguided and misnamed “reforms” – professionalization, term limits, campaign contribution limits and lobbying restrictions, etc. – conspired with an ever-changing social and economic reality and self-serving political hijinks, such as gerrymandered districts, to weaken the Capitol’s ability to function.

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December 6, 2010

Not since Vice President Dick Cheney hid out in the “secret” bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory following the attacks of 9/11 have we seen an act of political cowardice as brazen as the announced refusal by Meg Whitman’s lavishly paid loser consultants to show up at the upcoming post-election debriefing sponsored by the Institute of Governmental Studies at Berkeley.

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By Susan Ferriss
sferriss@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Dec. 6, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Dec. 6, 2010 – 12:50 am

A dramatic new chapter in the legal fight over Proposition 8 opens today, with debate over the purpose of marriage, the power of social convention and the rights of gay individuals televised live from federal court for the first time.

First, however, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco will hear an hour of debate over whether backers of California’s Proposition 8 even have the right to defend the voter-approved measure.

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The lame-duck governor wants action on the state’s fiscal crisis, but most lawmakers would rather wait for Brown to take office.

By Shane Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times
December 6, 2010

Reporting from Sacramento —

California lawmakers are in no mood to tackle the state’s latest deficit before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves office next month, even as the governor prepares to declare a fiscal emergency and call a special session of the Legislature on Monday.

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Opponents of the measure, similar to Arizona’s suspended law, fear alienating the fastest-growing voting bloc and further hampering the party’s ability to win elections in the state.

By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times
December 6, 2010

A nascent California ballot measure that seeks to replicate Arizona’s controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants is dividing the state’s Republicans, with a number of prominent strategists and leaders fearing that it could further harm their party’s already fraught relationship with Latinos — the fastest-growing segment of the electorate.

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Leaders from both parties see a compromise in the offing on renewing Bush-era tax cuts for all income levels and extending jobless benefits.
Tax cut debate

By Richard Simon, Tribune Washington Bureau
December 6, 2010

Reporting from Washington —

Facing dire political consequences for both sides, Republican and Democratic leaders on Sunday appeared to be coalescing around a compromise that would not only continue George W. Bush-era tax cuts for all taxpayers but also extend benefits to unemployed workers.

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