Los Angeles Times

Another water project could divide the state
San Joaquin Valley farmers hope for $3.3-billion dam and reservoir at Temperance Flat, but they need help paying for it.
By Bettina Boxall
Harvey Bailey was 11 when Friant Dam started spitting the San Joaquin River into an irrigation canal the size of a freeway.

Governor vetoes $4-billion package of budget cuts
Schwarzenegger and fellow Republicans had criticized the bill as a parlor trick because it would make cuts to a budget that the Legislature hasn't passed yet.
By Michael Rothfeld
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday afternoon vetoed the largest piece of a $4-billion package of bills lawmakers approved in recent weeks to reduce the state's nearly $20-billion budget deficit.

Legislators OK exemptions to furloughs for state workers
Gov. Schwarzenegger is expected to veto measure that affects employees paid with federal funds or license and usage fees.
By Jack Dolan
California legislators voted Monday to exempt about 35% of state employees from having to take three days off each month without pay, an order imposed on government workers last year to help close the budget deficit.

Letter on Muslim radical roils GOP Senate race
Website posts text contradicting Tom Campbell's claim of writing on behalf of donor Sami Al-Arian before 9/11.
By Seema Mehta
Terrorism and the Middle East are continuing to roil the Republican Senate contest after a letter written by former congressman Tom Campbell emerged that appeared to contradict statements Campbell and his aides had made about his dealings with a radical Muslim professor.

State Sen. Roy Ashburn says he's homosexual
Days after his DUI arrest, the Republican lawmaker makes the declaration to a Bakersfield radio host. Critics accuse him of hypocrisy. He says his past votes simply reflect his constituents' wishes.
By Patrick McGreevy
A Republican state senator from conservative Bakersfield said Monday that he is homosexual, days after a report that he had been at a gay nightclub in Sacramento before being arrested on drunk driving charges while behind the wheel of his state car last week.

PolitiCal

Whitman foes launch site to gather intelligence on her
State should restart offshore oil drilling, analyst says
Lawmakers approve bill to exempt 35% of state workers from unpaid days off
Teachers' union gives another $500,000 to roll back corporate tax cuts
State lawmakers seek to ban unemployment for elected city officials
GOP state senator comes out of closet in aftermath of drunk driving arrest
First Take: Flashing back with Jerry Brown. Race to the middle. Women of the year.

The Sacramento Bee

California legislator Roy Ashburn acknowledges he's gay, draws colleagues' support
By Susan Ferriss
In the end, Sen. Roy Ashburn said he decided he owed his constituents an explanation.

Sacramento-area schools fared well; 3 on low-performing list
By Diana Lambert
Sacramento-area schools did fairly well Monday when the preliminary list of the state's lowest-performing schools was released.

Politicians take trips, gifts
By Jim Sanders
California elected officials received more than 2,100 gifts and numerous free trips in 2009 totaling nearly $950,000, including meals, wine, flowers, golf fees and tickets to concerts, entertainment parks and professional sporting events.

Legislative analyst: California greenhouse gas law could cost some jobs
By Steve Wiegand
The Legislature's nonpartisan analyst says California's landmark greenhouse gas reduction law could cost jobs in the near term, while its long-term impact is uncertain.

Dan Walters: Coming out of the closet is best for all
When Art Agnos was representing San Francisco in the state Assembly during the 1980s (he later became mayor), he would annually introduce legislation to end anti-gay discrimination, but never gained enactment.

Schwarzenegger likely to veto furlough bill
Despite bipartisan support Monday for a bill that would exempt tens of thousands of state workers from furlough, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has signaled he'll likely veto it.

California legislators vote to extend tax relief for home short sales
By Jim Wasserman
Legislation to prevent the state from taxing forgiven mortgage debt cleared the state Assembly early Monday, offering potential tax relief to thousands of Californians who lost their homes in 2009.

The Buzz: Conservative GOP group backs Steve Poizner
The California Republican Assembly, the 75-year-old GOP "grass-roots" group that was once referred to by Ronald Reagan as "the conscience of the Republican Party," got together at Knott's Berry Farm's hotel over the weekend.

Capitol Alert
GOP's "conscience" endorses Poizner, DeVore
California: The nation's Rodney Dangerfield
Fiorina files to run; DeVore says she's all but done
Sen. Roy Ashburn: 'I'm gay'
AM Alert: Women of the year

Editorial: Sacramento teachers must help solve budget crisis
California school districts are in a difficult position. With the downturn in the economy and chronic state budget deficits, they have taken cuts over the past five years. Any "easy" reductions and use of one-time funds have been exhausted.

Editorial: Roy Ashburn's secret becomes public
State Sen. Roy Ashburn brought into the open Monday what was known but rarely discussed in political circles – that he is gay.

The San Francisco Chronicle

Jerry Brown is ex-mayor, not Gov. Moonbeam
By Chip Johnson
I've never had the pleasure of meeting the man dubbed Gov. Moonbeam and it's no wonder - I was still in high school in the mid-1970s when the dubious title was bestowed upon him.

Site asks public to share dirt on Meg Whitman
By Joe Garofoli
The hard work of digging up dirt on a political opponent - more politely known as opposition research - has traditionally been done in the dark recesses of a campaign operation.

Tough choices for 12 S.F. schools in bottom 5%
Jill Tucker
Across California, 188 schools got the news Monday that they were the lowest of the low-performing schools - a designation that will require them to be closed, converted to a charter school or be subject to a complete overhaul of instruction and staff, starting with the principal.

The Mercury News

Budget veto: Schwarzenegger rejects bill seeking $2.2 billion in cuts
By Denis C. Theriault
Rejecting a key piece of last month's push to trim California's deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger late Monday vetoed a bill that called for more than $2 billion in spending reductions starting this summer.

Seven South Bay schools ranked among lowest performers in the state
By Sharon Noguchi
In a declaration that raised hackles for its vague, complicated — and some say unfair — criteria, state officials on Monday named seven schools in Santa Clara County and four in San Mateo County among California's "persistently lowest-achieving schools," a designation that could lead to drastic overhauls.

Whitman's foes create Wikipedia-style gossip site
By Denis C. Theriault
Calling it "the first open-source opposition research file in history," Democrats targeting Meg Whitman"s gubernatorial bid Monday launched a new Web site "” Wikimeg.com "” where users can freely post critical information about the billionaire ex-CEO of eBay.

Editorial: California must press ahead with second-round Race to the Top application
California got another dose of the Obama administration's school reform strategy Monday as the state released a preliminary list of its 188 worst-performing schools, including seven in Santa Clara County and four in San Mateo County.

Contra Costa Times

Local governments closing in on initiative to block state raids
By Lisa Vorderbrueggen
Proponents of a California ballot initiative that would end state raids of city, redevelopment and transit money predict they will collect sufficient signatures well ahead of a May deadline.

Many East Bay schools on list of low performers
By Theresa Harrington
The state on Monday named "persistently lowest-achieving schools," including 20 in the East Bay, that could be severely affected, even to the extent of conversion to charter schools or major staff replacements.

State senator from Bakersfield says he's gay after DUI arrest
By Robin Hindery
Republican state Sen. Roy Ashburn said today he is gay, ending days of speculation that began after his arrest last week for investigation of driving under the influence.

The Orange County Register

GOP governor candidates to debate in Costa Mesa
Martin Wisckol
Republican gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner will face off in their first debate on Monday, March 15, at the Samueli Theater at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Open-primary measure language could be diluted
Martin Wisckol
Language in the open-primary initiative on the June ballot could be watered down, thanks to a public-labor union assault on the measure and collaboration by state lawmakers, according to this report in the Los Angeles Times.

The San Diego Union-Tribune

Poizner says he’s a ‘true conservative’
By John Marelius
State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner yesterday explained his shift on two key issues as he positions himself as the “true conservative” in the campaign for the Republican nomination for governor.

State's policy on parole notes being reviewed
By Michael Gardner
Three years of field notes from parole agents supervising John Albert Gardner III after his release from prison on a 2000 molestation conviction were destroyed under a state policy that is being reviewed as he faces charges of raping and murdering Chelsea King.

The San Bernardino County Sun

State releases list of low-performing public schools
By James Rufus Koren
California officials today released a list of low-performing public schools that will have to go through major changes or close down.

The Press-Enterprise

Inland schools among state's worst
By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
Sixteen Inland schools made a list of the lowest performing campuses in the state, but officials said Monday they are working to reverse the trends.

Would-be state Senate candidate alleges special treatment
By DUANE W. GANG and JULISSA McKINNON
A Val Verde Unified School District board member who had hoped to run for the state Senate in the 37th District special election next month is accusing Riverside County officials of giving another candidate special treatment.