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California's fiscal year ends today. The state constitution says the Legislature must have a budget ready by June 15 in time for the start of the new fiscal year tomorrow -- but there's no penalty for failure. That doesn't mean there aren't consequences, though.
Some payments to vendors and health care providers will stop tomorrow if there's no budget in place. And state workers may be without paycheck come Aug. 1 if the Assembly, Senate and governor can't work things out.
But not to worry. The "Big 4" -- Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, Speaker Karen Bass, Assembly Leader Mike Villines and Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill -- met on Sunday. They had their picture taken. Now everyone feels better, right?
I just got off the phone with Fresno City Manager Andy Souza, who said he agrees with critics who say the increased fee at Roedng Park will hurt the Chaffee Zoo. Souza said he will ask the City Council on Tuesday to suspend the new fee at Roeding Park for 30 days until the city finds a better way of implementing it.
The city had planned to charge non-city residents $5 to enter Roeding Park beginning Tuesday. The current $3 fee will be in effect until at least Aug. 1 to allow city and zoo officials time to figure out how best to fix the issue that has turned into a public relations nightmare for the city.
Souza said this change is only for Roeding Park. The two other regional parks in the city -- the Regional Sports Complex and Woodward Park -- will charge $5 to out-of-towners beginning Tuesday.
Souza admitted city officials messed up by not considering the impact that the extra fee at Roeding Park would have on the Chaffee Zoo. "You killed me in your blog," Souza said today. This is the blog posting the city manager was referring to in that comment.
The city already had been considering delaying the fee to give zoo patrons time to adjust. The City Council will be asked to formalize that delay at today's meeting. The problem is that Fresno County citizens are helping to pay for the zoo through a sales tax increase, and it appears that the city is sticking it to county residents just the same. Souza said that wasn't the intent of the fee, and the impact on the zoo was missed when it was developed.
Bee reporter Marc Benjamin laid the issue out nicely in this story that ran on Saturday.
Unfortunately, the folks at City Hall didn't realize the impact the out-of-town fee would have on people attending the zoo, especially those who already are helping to pay for the zoo improvements through the sales tax. They began scrambling to find a solution, and ran out of time. That's why the fee will need to be suspended at Roedng Park until a real solution is found.
I have repeatedly suggested a better solution to charging for parking at Roeding Park: Banning cars from the park. People could park in the old K-Mart parking lot across the street, and regular shuttles could drop them off at the zoo or other areas. There could be dropoff points for those having a birthday party and need to unload their party and picnic stuff. But five-minute zones could acommodate those folks, and then they'd drive back out and park across the street. There would have to be accommodations for the handicapped, but that could be worked out.
Wouldn't Roeding be a great park without cars?
I'm still not a fan of charging an extra parks fee to out-of-towners, even if they are from Bozeman, Montana. We want to encourage visitors to come to our community and spend their money at hotels. restaurants and stores. If we have good attractions, they'll generate plenty of money for government and businesses to pay for the services they use.
I understand that local governments are in tight budget times, but they need to find a better way of raising money than implementing a $2 parks fee that will be more trouble than it's worth.
How many ways are there for the City Hall bureaucrats to make people angry at government? Down at Fresno City Hall, the one on P Street, they're just looking for ways to get into your pocketbooks, even when it doesn't even make sense. Now they are ripping off county residents who voted to increase their sales taxes to pay for the Chaffee Zoo. Check out this story in today's Bee about the issue.
This is a zoo, by the way, that City Hall let deteriorate, and then asked for a taxpayer bailout. And this is the thanks that Mayor Alan Autry's team gave county taxpayers: We're going to mess with you until you can't see straight.
Someone needs to wake our absentee mayor up from his lameduck slumber, and tell him the people he's left in charge are doing really dumb things while he's sucking down lattes at his favorite north Fresno Starbuck's. The latest City Hall bungling surrounds the effort to make non-city residents pay more to use our parks than city residents.
While this simple-minded approach may seem to make sense on the surface, the more you get into it, the dumber the policy is. First, the city has no way of determining who every county resident is when asking them to pay more to get into Roeding Park. Second, a kindergartener couldn't have devised a more ham-fisted way of refunding the extra money they have to pay to get into the park and then the zoo.
The City Council should stop this terrible policy in its tracks. Mayoral candidates Henry T. Perea and Ashley Swearengin should be railing against this stupidity.
Here are a couple of crucial paragraphs from today's story by Bee reporter Marc Benjamin:
Fresno's plan to charge nonresidents an extra $2 to enter popular city parks has rattled the cages at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
Roeding Park -- the zoo's home -- is one of the places targeted for the higher fee, and zoo officials think that could undermine countywide support for the zoo.
City officials say they may have a point. They now plan to give zoo patrons a break, but even the proposed compromise leaves some zoo officials with concerns.
The city charges $3 for any car entering Roeding, the Regional Sports Complex or Woodward Park. Starting Tuesday, non-Fresno residents will have to pay $5. If the compromise set for discussion during a special City Council meeting Tuesday is approved, the increase at Roeding would be delayed.
Also under the compromise, zoo visitors who live outside of Fresno would still be able to get into Roeding for $3 if they show a membership card. If they're not members, they could get the additional $2 reimbursed at the zoo entrance, and the city would reimburse the zoo.
City Manager Andy Souza went into his bureaucratic speak when explaining the mess to The Bee. He admitted the problem of county residents helping to pay for zoo improvements, and added that it was a "nuance" that City Hall didn't think about when putting to gether plans for the $2 increase for Roeding Park.
Tip to taxpayers: When a government bureaucrat talks about "nuance," hang onto your wallet.
 The name of Kirk Kerkorian, billionaire investor and Armenian-American Fresno native, photo right, popped up in a recent blog titled "Is 80 Really the New 50?" posted by the Anti-Ageism Task Force on the Web site of the International Longevity Center -- USA. When it comes to making us rich, we don't care how old the guy is. What do you think?
The item says that:
Newsweek’s Daniel Gross writes that 80 is new the 50 in his column “The Money Culture”. Gross notes the multitude of “frisky septuagenarians” who dominate CNBC, the financial news network. To wit, recent coverage of power elders has included that of:
Carl Icahn, 72, corporate raider
George Soros, 77, power trader
Warren Buffett, 77, Berkshire Hathaway CFO
Kirk Kerkorian, 91, auto industry tycoon
Gone is the retirement age of 65, writes Gross, calling these elder pillars of industry “business guitar heroes” who are taking a cue from real-life rock stars like Mick Jagger, 64, and Tina Turner, 68, still selling out stadiums.
But, it isn’t so easy for the rest of us, Gross notes, turning to expert Ken Dychtwald, chief executive officer of the consulting firm AgeWave, an organization which specializes in aging and the workplace. Dychtwald said: "There is still enormous resistance and unwillingness to consider older people for job hires."
But, Gross counters that CT Partners, an executive search firm, recently conducted an ad-hoc poll on its Web site, asking managers whether they'd hire a 72-year-old CEO (a thinly veiled reference to John McCain).The answer? Yes, by a comfortable 10% margin.
And the Arizona Republic recently cited our own poll on the McCain matter. Sixty-six percent of respondents to our question of whether McCain was too old to run said that the age of a presidential candidate mattered less to them than the candidate's health.
So, perhaps, little by little, society will follow the lead of business world visionaries and politicians alike.
On Fridays, the editorial board compiles its weekly Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down editorial for Saturday's Bee. Anytime you've got a nominee for the column, be sure it send it over because we're always looking for good ones. Here's an item I found on the wire that there wasn't space for, but I really liked it, so enjoy it anyway:
Thumbs down to the graffiti artist, Colin R. Carlton, who was trying to tag a sign with graffiti over Interstate 5 on the Ship Canal Bridge in Seattle. The 19-year-old, according to the Seattle Times, fell 20 feet to the road below and survived, apparently without injury. Despite landing on his head, the kid suffered no injuries and was admitted to Harborview Medical Center for observation only, according to a spokeswoman. Carlton had defaced the Department of Transportation sign over the south lanes about midspan and was climbing down when he fell about 4 a.m., said the State Patrol.
And you think your teenager is hardheaded?
Finally, after decades of denial, Fresno is about to embark on a wondrous new technological era -- using water meters to figure out how much people should pay for their water. Here's our editorial on the subject.
Fresno's years behind the curve on this, and the price has been high. Using a flat rate for water fees means that water wasters have enjoyed a handsome subsidy from those who are careful about how much water they use. It's more than unfair -- it's a downright stupid way to do business in a semi-desert.
And now, with a severe waster crisis upon us in the Valley and the state, the flat rate system is utterly indefensible.
Fresnans can't take a lot of credit for finally seeing the light. If the state and the federal Bureau of Reclamation hadn't gotten tough with Fresno, we'd probably try to live without meters forever. But they did, and the city is gearing up for installation of the devices, under a mandate to begin reading them in 2010. About time.
California's Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, has assigned numbers for the 11 ballot initiatives already qualified fro the November general election. The high-speed rail bond measure won the top of the ballot spot -- it's Proposition 1.
Here's the full announcement from Bowen's office.
The California Air Resources Board on Thursday released its draft -- or "scoping" -- plan to implement AB 32, the landmark greenhouse gas initiative launched in 2006. High-speed rail is one of the measures CARB is counting on to meet AB 32's ambitious goals. Small wonder, since a conservative estimate puts the reduction in greenhouse gases from high-speed rail at around 22 billion pounds of carbon dioxide each year.
Last night, I finally bought "hands-free" hardware to go with my cell phone. I generally dislike talking on any phone, so I waited as long as I could. And I don't talk a lot while I'm driving -- mostly I listen to audiobooks -- but I'm sure there will be times when I need it and I'm too cheap to risk getting a ticket for violating the new law.
Starting Tuesday, all California drivers age 18 and older will be required to use a hands-free device to make a call. Drivers under 18 can't use electronic devices at all while driving.
From what I hear though, "hands-free" isn't necessarily trouble free. I know when my husband uses his and has the air conditioner running, it sounds like he's talking in gale-force winds.
And, it's not like drivers can't still be distracted, even if they're using both hands. An article in today's Telegraph (United Kingdom) tells of a driver who was jailed for causing a fatal crash while talking on a Bluetooth headset.
Marvyn Richmond, 49, was so engrossed in a conversation with his mother that he failed to notice traffic ahead of him had come to a standstill, and ploughed into the back of the queue, killing a passenger in a van.
Are you ready for Tuesday? Have you acquired one of those things in your ear? If you have, is there a brand you would really recommend? Or, like Bee columnist Mike Oz, are you taking a stand by refusing to go hands-free?
The California Highway Patrol and the Fresno County District Attorney's office are proving they mean business about cutting down on the fog crashes in the Valley. In a story this week, The Bee's Chris Collins reported that the DA has charged eight people with crimes in connection with the massive pileup on Highway 99 in November that killed two people and injured dozens more. Forty other people will be cited for going too fast in the midst of heavy fog. Good show!
The Bee has been hammering away at the authorities for its passive attitude toward these deadly annual crashes involving dozens of vehicles. We're glad to see them answering demands that they crack down in a drastic way so that people realize they are driving in deadly dangerous conditions. Last fall a total of 68 people were injured in a total of 89 crashes.
To read more about the prosecutions, read the story by clicking here.
The Supreme Court made two significant rulings this week: one forbidding capital punishment for child rapists and one allowing private ownership of guns at home for self-defense -- its first ruling on gun ownership and the Second Amendment. From my point of view, they had a good day at work, scoring two for two. What do you think?
To read more about the ruling on child rapists, click here:
To read more about the ruling on gun control, click here.
 The days when evangelicals were like the "all for one and one for all" Musketeers clearly is over. Dr. James Dobson's recent attack on Barack Obama has stirred up several of his conservative colleagues, most notably Dr. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a Methodist pastor of a 15,000-member church in Houston. (That's him hugging President Bush in the photo at right, with Dick Cheney in the background.) Despite his close ties with the Bush conservatives, Caldwell does not want to be lumped in with the Dobsonites. (Caldwell was most recently in the news when he performed the wedding for President Bush's daughter, Jenna, at their Crawford Ranch.)
Caldwell and some other colleagues who part company with Dobson politically have revved up a new Web site called jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com. The Web site addresses Dobson's distortions on Obama's statements, point by point. What do you think?
Caldwell is a powerful speaker, and I sure wouldn't want to square off with him. I was at a conference on church leadership a few years ago at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, and he gave an amazing address, speaking nonstop for 45 minutes, without a single visible note. Perhaps he had something scribbled on his shirt cuffs, but I sure didn't see anything.
I'm sure this won't be the last of the dustups. Seems religion is going to be a major issue in this election, though I confess I'm far more worried about the candidates' work on health care, defense, the economy and energy than their personal spiritual lives. It seems to me that both John McCain and Barack Obama are men of faith who've been through a lot in their lives, and my focus will be on judging them for their leadership capabilities. My pastor does a fine job, thank you very much, and I'm not leaning on the president to be my minister. I do want him, however, to be an expert on politics and public policy. That's a big enough job for one man.
 Some people march; some compose letters and blogs; some sing; some create artwork. The stories about the recent gay marriages in Fresno spurred artist and author Jean Ray Laury of Clovis to send me this three-dimensional letter to the editor -- a photo of a quilted wall hanging called "I Do I Do," which she created a few years ago. It expresses her views in the way that best suits her -- with humor and creativity as sharp and pointed as her sewing needle.
Here's what the words say:
Man: I don't want no gay marriage ruining the sanctity of my marriage.
Woman: Oh, well, me too, I guess.
Gay marriage threatens society? More than Halliburton? Enron? The national debt? Lack of health care? Same sex weddings make a mockery of marriage? When 50% of them now end in divorce? In February 2004, a Massachusetts court ruled gay marriage legal. George Bush and the panicked Moral Majority want a constitutional amendment. When 40% of women and 60% of men now have aldulterous affairs?
The tags at the bottom say: "I Do, I Do."
Jean Ray says that she often uses cartoon characters when making controversial social commentaries, because she's observed that people are more receptive to reading her messages in that format, even if they don't agree.
Are you an artist who comments on public policy through your work? Send me photos of your creations, too. My e-mail is gmarshall@fresnobee.com.
The gossipy attacks on the spouses of the presidential candidates are just plain dumb. They aren't running for president, and while this trivia may be entertaining to some, it's not important to the future of the nation. No wonder we can't solve the major problems confronting the United States. Our attention span on the things that matter is about two seconds.
What I want to know (for starters) is how Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama are going to end the war in Iraq, make this country safe from terrorism, fix our energy crisis, make health care affordable to all Americans and solve our immigration problem. And what are their positions on water storage, air quality and global warming? What about the federal justice system and the nation's efforts to battle crime?
Explain all that, and a thousand other issues the president must handle, then we can talk about cookie recipes and the role of spouses. We have a chance in this election to debate the biggest issues of the day in a high-level way. Wouldn't it be nice if McCain and Obama could explain to voters how they differ in their policies and programs, and we could ignore the other nasty stuff that infects so many campaigns these days?
Of course, the families of the candidates are important to the overall picture we have of the party nominees. They are going to be part of the election discussion, and it would be silly to suggest they not be mentioned in the campaign. But how about a little perspective here? To attack the spouses, often with fabricated charges, doesn't help us figure out which candidate will make the best president.
 I noticed in the political notebook this week that the Valley's prisons are not being considered for seven new prison medical centers in the state because the director of prison medical care, J. Clark Kelso, photo right, says we don't have the trained workforce to support them.
I'm not sure if that's a blessing or a curse. Sure, it's a slap in the face at our dropout-plagued workforce. I get that. But should we really be heartbroken that we won't get more prisoners dumped on us? Don't think so.
All things being equal, I'd much rather see the folks with the medical training here employed in clinics and hospitals with law-abiding folks who will actually do good things when they are well. There is no shortage of jobs here for people with medical training.
We'll happily pass on this so-called opportunity: Kelso's looking at Folsom, Chino, Whittier, San Diego, Ventura and San Joaquin and Solano counties. I wish them well with their "industry."
An astonishing majority of California voters support strong efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, according to a new poll. The numbers are huge: 65% say global warming is a "proven fact"; 79% see it as a "somewhat serious threat"; 67% support the state taking stronger action than the federal government; and even after being warned it could have economic impacts, 58% support AB 32, the state's landmark greenhouse gas initiative.
So what the response of the GOP minorities in the state Legislature? They're trying to delay implementation of AB 32 for a year, holding it hostage in the budget battle. Talk about swimming against the tide. But so long as the budget requires a two-thirds majority to pass, and so long as gerrymandered districts leave safe havens for Republicans and Democrats alike, this kind of Twilight Zone politics will prevail.
Radio shock-jock Don Imus got a second chance after being fired last year when he made racist remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team. He took full advantage of it.
On Monday, in a conversation about suspended Dallas Cowboys defensive back Adam "Pacman" Jones, Imus was told Jones “been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.”
Imus asked, “What color is he?”
One of his flunkies answered, “He’s African-American.”
Imus replied, "Well, there you go. “Now we know.”
Yeah. Now we know. So long, Don.
 One of Fresno's premier hospitals, Saint Agnes Medical Centers, is the target of a scathing report by the state Department of Public Health for procedures that endanger patient safety. To read our editorial about the problems -- and the lively debate from readers, click here. To read the most recent news story, click here.
The same day the editorial was printed, Bee reporter Barbara Anderson broke the news that the hospital has suspended its open-heart surgeries. It is bringing in its auditors from its corporate parent -- Michigan-based Trinity Health, as well as auditors from the outside to review the cardiac surgery program. Though it's painful to hear such news about the hospital so many have trusted to take care of us when we are ill and vulnerable, the more information we know, the better.
Also on Friday, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center officials announced separately that they have stopped sending heart surgery patients to the hospital and it was unclear when -- or whether -- they would resume referrals.
For the past several years, legislative Democrats have said they support taking the map-drawing power from the Legislature and giving it to an independent redistricting commission. But every time they have a chance to back a measure that would actually do what they say, they oppose it. The latest example was the vote by party leaders to oppose the redistricting measure on the November ballot.
The executive board of the California Democratic Party voted 9-1 last week against the redistricting measure. The Dems claim it's a Republican power grab. That's their fallback position when the facts aren't on their side. This effort is being pushed by California Common Cause, AARP and the League of Women Voters. Those groups don't exactly conjure up thoughts of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove.
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Democratic Controller Steve Westly are backing the redistricting measure. It's a bipartisan measure, excerpt for legislative Democrats who don't want to give up their power to create safe districts. Democrats and Republicans know that it's a conflict of interest to draw the boundaries of your own district.
Right now, legislative elections in California are essentially fixed. A seat won't change hands without some extraordinary event. Even when lawmakers are termed out, the seats won't change parties.
This is what California Voters First says about the issue: "State legislators are allowed to draw their own district boundaries to subvert the system and ensure their reelection. In fact, there is now a 99% re-election rate in California legislative races! Guaranteed re-election is not the best incentive for elected officials to be accountable and responsive to voter needs."
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has scheduled a meeting for Friday with his political allies to discuss ways to block the measure, as well as raise money for the November campaign against the redistricting initiative. It's clear the Dems are going all out to oppose this initiative.
The special-interest money that Perata is generating to oppose redistricting reform will come at a cost. How much more of state government will be given away as a payback for helping the Democrats kill the redistricting initiative?
Those opposing redistricting reform know their position is indefensible, so they resort to political spin. It's time to fix a system that doesn't make sense to anyone but politicians.
I've always argued that you shouldn't be rewarded for not doing your job, yet we pay our state lawmakers even if they don't pass a budget on time, which is just about every year. They're on track again to miss the July 1 deadline. What are we going to do with these people? Not pay them? Suspend them? Make them listen to CDs of their own speeches?
My column today predicts we'll be in the same predicament two decades from now unless something dramatic happens to force the Legislature to be more accountable to the public. The best first step toward reforming the Legislature is taking the redistricting process from lawmakers. They draw the lines of their own districts now, and make sure they get re-elected in the process. An independent commission should be doing the map-drawing.
There's a measure on the November ballot to change the redistricting process. Voters should support it. But the politicians will be doing all they can to mislead voters about what the redistricting measure will do. Don't fall for the political spin. The politicians only want to save their jobs -- not represent the public.
 The teen-pregnancy rate in the Valley is always a concern, because it reflects deep failings in our education system, our public health system and it says a lot about the poor health of our families in general.
However, we can at least be somewhat comforted that teen pregnancy isn't an organized extracurricular activity, as it is in Gloucester, Mass. I got a note from the Casey Journalism Center about a recent story in Time magazine called “Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High” by Kathleen Kingsbury. There's blame flying around everywhere as folks hear about this story, from the school to the families to popular culture depictions of teen pregnancy in movies like "Juno," photo above. And, of course, there are the inevitable references to Jamie Lynn Spears, who became pregnant at 16. What do you think?
This is the note:
Seventeen girls at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts are expecting babies – more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student school had last year. School officials started looking into the matter last fall after an unusual number of girls began filing into the school clinic to find out if they were pregnant. They discovered that nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. The question of what to do next has divided this fiercely Catholic enclave. Gloucester isn’t sure it wants to provide easier access to birth control. And some residents worry that the problem goes much deeper: The past decade has been difficult for this mostly white, mostly blue-collar city, where the economy has always depended on a now ailing fishing industry. “Families are broken,” said school superintendent Christopher Farmer. “Many of our young people are growing up directionless.” The school’s nurse practitioner Kim Daly administered some 150 pregnancy tests at Gloucester High’s student clinic this year, when she and the clinic’s medical director began to advocate prescribing contraceptives regardless of parental consent, a practice at about 15 public high schools in Massachusetts. But the notion of a school handing out birth control pills has been met with hostility. Gloucester’s elected school committee plans to vote later this summer on whether to provide contraceptives. But some believe the decision won’t do much to solve the issue of teens wanting to get pregnant. As one rising junior said of her classmates: “No one’s offered them a better option.”
As always in these cases, my sympathies are with the children, who will start off their lives with uneducated, single mothers. How very sad for those babies. We can only hope the young parents' families will get the wakeup call, support their daughters continuing education and step in to give those little babies a chance. That could mean adoption; it could mean the families to step in to help the young parents raise the child until the parents mature.
 Nicole Parra is really burning her bridges as she winds down her career in the state Assembly. Kern County Democrats are in a lather because Parra has done everything short of endorsing a Republican, Danny Gilmore, to take her place in the 30th Assembly District. According to the Bakersfield Californian, Kern Democrats sent a pair of nasty letters to Parra recently, including voter registration forms in case she wants to switch parties.
Now Parra has a press conference scheduled for 2 p.m. in Bakersfield, at which, some speculate, she may announce a switch. Set to join her at the press conference is Laura Gadke, the Central Valley regional vice-chair of California Republican Party, according to Parra's Sacramento office.
Parra defeated Gilmore in a close race back in 2006.
All of this is part of the amusing feud carried out between Parra and her father, longtime Kern County pol Pete Parra, and state Sen.. Dean Florez. Florez backed Michael Rubio when he knocked the elder Parra off the Kern County Board of Supervisors in 2004.
Now Florez's mom, Fran Florez, is running against Gilmore to replace the termed-out Parra. The plot thickens. Or curdles. Ah, politics -- still America's favorite blood sport.
UPDATE (1:48 p.m.): Parra told The Bee's E.J Schultz that she's not switching parties -- not now, anyhow.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that today is not the day to change,” Parra said in a phone interview. “I’m proud of Democratic principles and I’m proud to be a Democrat.”
But she didn't rule out a change in the future. Stay tuned.
I see signs that the fight to protect gay marriage in California will be not be a low-key skirmish like the last ballot measure. I expect a humongous big fight come November. One of several early indicators is in Advertising Age magazine today, which is reporting that one of K-mart's top executives, Senior VP-Chief Marketing Officer Bill Stewart, is leaving the company to become a full-time volunteer on a campaign to protect gay marriage in California.
From Ad Age: Mr. Stewart, 45, will leave by June 30, and the Kmart marketing team will report to Maureen McGuire, chief marketing officer of the chain's parent, Sears Holdings, until the company completes a search for a replacement, a spokesman said.
[Stewart] said he felt personally compelled to go in a different direction because of a historic vote approaching in California. "It was something that personally was so important to me that I felt I needed to do everything possible," he said.
Mr. Stewart, who's on the board of directors of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, will become a full-time volunteer for Equality for All, which is leading the campaign against a ballot initiative to overturn a California Supreme Court decision earlier this year and ban gay marriage.
If the supporters of gay rights start importing their big guns from around the nation and the religious right brings in its generals from around the country, this is going to get interesting.
I hate everything about this morning's story on the county retirees whose pension benefits were miscalculated by people who are paid very well to do better.To read it, click here. What do you think? If this happened to you, what would you do?
I hate that the oversight of the pensions was so pathetic by the Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association that the mistakes were allowed to go on for years. They went on even when the employees themselves pointed them out. Some people were underpaid; some were overpaid. This is financial malpractice.
I hate that now the retirees -- and even their families if they are dead -- have to pay back at least some of the money, even though they rightfully should. It's going to be a hardship for most of them and it wasn't their fault. They did nothing wrong.
I hate that there is inequity even in the restitution plans, that because some people did the right thing and already paid back everything, they may be hurt more. That's wrong, too.
I hate that dozens of people were also underpaid. How many didn't take that trip to see loved ones because they didn't have the money? How many didn't host that family celebration because they couldn't afford it? How many couldn't help that grandchild with his college tuition? How many didn't donate money to that worthy cause they believe in? How many have delayed home repairs?
I also hate that I don't see any accountability in this mess. What's being done so that this never happens again?
There's a lot of controversy swirling around about the coverage of Tim Russert, the host of "Meet the Press," who died suddenly at 58 last week. Has it been too much? What do you think?
I have no problem with it. When police officers die on the job, thousands upon thousands of officers parade in their cruisers to the funeral service. They wear black bands on their badges; they pledge service to the survivors for life, set up generous trust funds for the surviving children. Similar treatment is accorded firefighters. Those things are what they do for their own. And I think they are beautiful expressions of respect.
Russert is a beloved and respected TV journalist, so his colleagues are going to do what they do for him -- TV journalism. I've very much enjoyed watching the stories about this exceptional man and his family.
It's been educational. This is a man we can all learn from.
However, by far the most touching piece I've seen came from a young woman who worked for him at "Meet The Press." She's not a star; you probably won't know Michelle Jaconi by name. But I bet you won't soon forget this personal note she wrote to her friends about Tim Russert. Any boss would be honored to have such things written by their employees. It's a keeper.
My Tim
I thank you so much for your condolences and your thoughts. It is hard to explain the agony of the past three days but since I have yet to find the peace necessary for sleep, I thought I should clear my head and my heart.
I am embarrassed at how long this letter has turned out to be, but I share it with you as I know that reading is soothing to a grieving heart. And that television gives you a piece of emotion without the closure of action.
So many of you have asked what it has been like and how I have been coping. So, here is my best attempt at an explanation.
Imagine for a moment your beloved boss giving you an assignment and by the time you got to your office to complete it, he was dead.
Imagine your hero, in the prime of his career, being driven away from the playing field in an ambulance -- motionless.
Imagine a man -- who treated you like the daughter he never had -- dying without having had the chance to say goodbye.
Imagine losing your favorite teacher, coach, and friend, without ever being able to say "thank you."
Now imagine all of that happening at once.
And then think about minutes later your phone ringing with your heart hopeful for news of some miraculous recovery - only to hear a person asking you for the name of his favorite song as they were rushing to prepare his obituary.
That was my Friday.
Fridays are always frenetic at "Meet the Press." This one especially.
Tim had just come back from a trip and was in full "Tim Tornado" mode as I lovingly referred to the whirlwind he would create in our tiny office as we tried to catch up to his hyperactive intellect.
There are only six of us on the production staff at "Meet the Press."
(To give you a comparison, the Daily Show has more interns than we have employees). Four out of the six of us started as interns. One of the others started in the mailroom. For me, Tim was my first boss. He has also been my only boss. I still remember the nerves in my stomach as a young intern 11 years ago, being sent to his office because "he wanted to talk to me."
I wasn't told it was a job interview. I am glad, as I don't think I could have been any more nervous. Tim was my idol. I thought he was everything a man should be. Throughout my internship I had been in his office briefly, occasionally being assigned the coveted task of delivering Tim his edition of the political "Hotline" ... but sitting down in that big leather chair across from him that morning and letting my eyes wander over the paraphernalia was enough to make me shake. I saw his picture with the Pope. I thought that was a good sign. Maybe a prayer would get me through.
He asked me what I wanted to do for the show. And I told him, "Anything you want me to." And he laughed. He asked me what my favorite part of the internship was and I said getting to read so many newspapers every morning. He asked me who my favorite columnist was and I said, "Maureen Dowd - but I actually like it best when she writes about her family instead of politics." And he looked surprised, "why?" And I said, "because sometime when she writes about politics she is so sarcastic you forget if she believes in anything. Then she writes about her family, and you see that she is a gifted writer with an incredibly grounded heart."
Gulp. He was silent. Had I offended him? Why am I speaking of hearts in a job interview? Why didn't I think before I spoke? That is why I am not in politics I thought. He asked what my favorite edition of "Meet the Press" was and I said, "I actually love the shows you do with the NBA All-Stars." He almost fell off his chair. As soon as I said it, I wish I had taken it back as I realized it was so impolitic to tell this interviewer of presidents and this leader of the greatest public affairs show in the world that I liked his fluff. He said, "my producers hate that I do those shows." And I said, "well perhaps you should get new producers because they show a strength of yours that makes it more fun to watch your political interviews. I love when you have Bob Dole on for example, because he has been on so often that you two almost have this ballet of dancing around each other's swords. But, when you have these sports stars on, you throw them off their game by showing them so much respect. They aren't used to an interviewer who treats them with such dignity and approaches them as cultural figures instead of athletes. They always seem shocked by your preparation and research and they end up giving you so much more insight."
Silence again. I realized then I had not told him anything about myself that would make me an attractive hire. I blurted out quickly, "You know, I went to Georgetown with Allen Iverson, and I think he would be fascinating to interview. You know, he, like you and me, was Jesuit educated. Isn't that something?"
Finally, I got a smile. His eyes twinkled. I relaxed. We talked for nearly an hour, and by the time I made it back upstairs to my workspace, I was hired.
That was more than a decade ago, and I have never left.
(Tim did end up interviewing Allen Iverson by the way, and the interview was so good that I believe it inspired Mr. Iverson to ratchet up his athleticism in the All-Star game. He ended up getting the MVP title that game. I always thought Tim should get the trophy.)
Tim The Ironic TV Pioneer
Tim was not made for television.
First of all, he hated hairspray.
Secondly, he would rather pull teeth than buy a new suit.
Yet, Tim changed television and political interviewing forever.
And not just in America. Traveling abroad, you can see the Russert stamp on all of the world's public affairs shows. The most famous, and most dreaded for our guests, was the Meet the Press graphic. I always thought it would be fun to have a blood pressure monitor on our guests for every time Tim uttered the words, "Let me show our viewers at home on the screen ...."
I remember being in Iowa at Dean rally and midway through his speech, Dean saw me and said, "Oh no, I see 'Meet the Press' is here. I better be more careful what I say."
Tim hated when television taught you nothing; when politicians would simply say, "you are taking that out of context" or "I never said that."
So he came up with the brilliantly simplistic solution of showing the context. The network bosses were not thrilled. They told him that putting words on the screen for the viewers to read was "1950s television." Tim told them that maybe there were some smart people in television in the 1950s.
He, like always, won the argument.
Tim's preparation is rightly legendary. He was the model Boy Scout:
he
was always prepared. But, more than that, when it was show time, he also listened.
It is hard to explain to a non-television person how rare it is for an interviewer to actually, actively listen to his or her guest. Most interviewers are thinking about what the next question is or when they have to hit the next commercial. Tim ignored commercial cues and just trusted his well-honed instincts to guide him. We once went 45 minutes without taking a break when Vice President Cheney was on the show, simply because everything he said prompted a follow up.
Additionally, one of Tim's other television legacies is the amazing number of women he brought and guided into television journalism
stardom: Katie Couric, Andrea Mitchell, Maria Shriver, Gwen Ifill, Lisa Myers and Campbell Brown. And, if you are ever fortunate enough to meet Tim's elegant wife, Maureen Orth, you will see that Tim chose to spend every day by a woman who challenged his intellect and raised his game.
(I just loved that without even thinking about it, our panel on Sunday of those who knew Tim best was composed of 5 women. And yes, all Tim's producers and his director are women.)
The Russert Brain
Working for Tim was like going to law school -- for free. Well, actually, now that I think about it, it was like getting paid to go to law school. The work expected of you would crush most people. The lack of sleep and early mornings would doom many more. The amount of reading? Insurmountable.
But, the education ... priceless.
Tim loved and inspired many but trusted few. For those lucky enough to be in that circle he made us better on a daily basis. He had the most incredible gut, the most amazing instincts, and the most respectful way of letting you follow your own leads.
He was so demanding. He never accepted shades of grey. "How much would we get if we rolled back the Bush tax cuts for those in the top income bracket?" He would ask. "It would depend on..." I would start to say and
he would say, "No. I need one figure."
"Prove it." "What's the source?" "Let me read that." "Make it more concise." "I think there is a better example out there." "Do you trust this guy?" "Big Russ wouldn't get that." "What does that really mean?"
The days were filled with being challenged with every request - of having your best instinct and best writing be made even better by his keen editorial judgment.
Tim was the most voracious reader I have ever seen. He also was an equal opportunity audience - you would be shocked at the number of publications he poured through. He has handed me over the years tattered & highlighted AARP newsletters, rare Catholic weeklies, university magazines from schools he never attended. He got a kick out of his reading habits. Once, I showed him one of my women's magazines that had a fun interview with Condoleezza Rice. Tim took it from me and spent the afternoon laughing. But sure enough, you should have seen the smile on his face the next time we had Rice on our program as he said the seemingly inconceivable words, "Dr. Rice, I was reading Glamour magazine the other day ...."
I actually think Tim's greatest skill was his ability to separate the wheat from the chaff. The ability to synthesize complex issues into a digestible, understandable sentence or two. It was a skill that allowed him - a man without artifice and overflowing with principles - to
navigate to the top of a town that prides itself on spin.
In 2000, It was Florida, Florida, Florida. In 2004: Ohio, Ohio, Ohio.
And very early in 2008 he called it: It is a choice of Change vs.
Experience. Those quick hits on the Today show where he would synthesize the meaning behind the complex world of politics was the best national civics lesson this nation could ever have.
It is for the loss of that skill alone that I mourn for our country.
In
these times as the term "journalist" becomes diluted, as the number of media sources proliferate, as the amount of sound that comes from your television increases in a reverse proportion to the amount of sense, the country has lost its greatest steward.
My Tim
For me, the memories I will cherish most are Tim as a father figure.
Cardinal McCarrick told me on Friday that Tim was one of the people he has met that was most prepared for death. He was right. Tim lived life with a wisdom that usually only came with a great personal tragedy or intense grief. Tim lived a blessed life yet had an amount of empathy that was rich with experience.
When my mom was diagnosed with cancer, most people around me were tongue-tied. Not Tim. He called daily to ask about her treatment and her prognosis.
On the morning of my 30th birthday, as I awoke with my head on the metal railing of my mother's hospital bed, one of the nurses in the intensive care unit came to tell me I had a phone call. My heart sank. Phone calls at that stage of my life scared me. I answered the phone - and rather than have it be news of some other tragedy, it was Tim's voice that greeted me. He said, "I know it is your birthday and I wanted to tell you to hang in there and be tough, and know that I am thinking of you. And I wanted to tell you to really try and be strong, because your mom will want to see your beautiful smile today." ...
The day I came back to work after my mom's funeral, I shut my door and wanted to pretend I didn't exist. Tim called me constantly that day.
He asked for me to print my eulogy for him so he could tell me what his favorite passage was. He called to give me assignments to keep me busy.
He called to ask why I thought so many people were at her funeral.
And
then, at the end of the day, he called to give me his baseball tickets.
I said, "You know, Tim, I don't know if I am ready." And he said, "Take them. Go. I want you to remember what life sounds like."
He always knew what to say. I always thought it might have had something to do with his childhood hero, Yogi Berra. How Tim is that?
At
a time when his friends worshiped the glamorous athletes of his generation, Tim loved good-old big-eared Yogi. A sage. Just like Tim.
...
Three years later, I was in another hospital - this time for the most joyous occasion, the birth of my daughter Kylie. Again, the phone call from Tim. But, this time, there were no words when I picked up the phone. Instead, I could just hear Tim smiling. After a while his bombastic voice just boomed through the room, "What did I tell you???
Isn't it amazing!! Could you ever imagine you could love someone that much??"
I know no one who was more hopeful for youth nor who respected the elderly more than Tim. He would jump up from his moderator chair to help the infirm get off our set. He would rush to his coveted secret swag closet at the mere glimpse of a child in the NBC corridors. He was the ideal son and the year-round Santa.
His generosity was as deep as his mind was profound.
But probably the thing I will cherish most, because it was so recent and so quintessentially Tim, was the conversation I had with him just a short time before his death. It was a conversation I dreaded as an employee in an intense political year. "Tim, I've got some news for you. I'm pregnant again." I said with a little trepidation in my voice.
His face lit up like a kid on a snow day and he gave me one of the biggest bear hugs I have ever received. He yelled outside the newsroom, "MICHELLE's PREGNANT!" He took off his glasses, he shook his head smiling. "I told you to pop them out! I told you that when you got married, didn't I?"
I said, "No actually, you told me that when I got engaged, and my Catholic mother was a little horrified you didn't wait to give me that advice."
He laughed. "Come, tell me everything! When are you due?" He asked, still beaming.
"Not till after the election ... and well before State of the Union,"
I
said.
That stopped him in his tracks. He grabbed my wrist and showed his anger like I had not seen it ever before. "Have I taught you nothing?
You never think about that. That is not important." He then motioned to the ceiling and to the newsroom and everything around him and then went on, "This is not important. This goes on and on. ... But that," he said, pointing to my stomach, "That is what it is all about."
I thought of those words as I wept at my desk on Friday afternoon. I followed my tears as they fell on the papers on my lap, which had the graphics for what was supposed to be our show on Sunday with Senators Joe Biden and Lindsey Graham. I thought how ridiculous it was to be looking at the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll at a time like that. ...
The calls for help with the networks various tributes to Tim continued to pour in. On one call, I broke down, and said, "I am sorry. I can't do this." And then the producer, a colleague, in a tone so forceful it jolted me, said, "Michelle, I know this is hard. But I need your help to make this good."
And I knew she was right. To do honor to his memory I should make sure they knew of how to find the best moments from the more than nearly 860 editions of "Meet the Press" that he moderated, to tell them which were his favorite photos, and who were his real friends. It was quite similar to that organizational onslaught that comes with having to plan a loved one's funeral before you have time to grieve.
That pull and that feeling became even more intense Friday night, when we realized we had one day to put together "Meet the Press." Our show.
Tim's show. The show Luke Russert called "Tim's second son."
We had to do him proud.
We worked around the clock. We didn't sleep. We went home to shower and weep as the country silently waited to see what we would do. Tim's moderator chair was lit and left empty.
We had 17 years worth of "Meet the Press" under Tim's leadership to represent and honor. We had 58 years of love and friendship to pay respect to. We had an hour to do it in.
We were aided by former colleagues who didn't even ask ... but just showed up.
The show was a labor of love. It was simultaneous agony and catharsis.
I was holding it together pretty well - even having fun finding all of Tim's best moments - until Sunday morning, when I rounded the corner into the greenroom before the show. I usually rounded that corner with Tim. I loved to watch his walk change into a bounce as he got close to the door. And to see his smile turn devilish and that twinkle in his eye alight as he prepared to greet our guests with some perfectly complimentary salutation, "The Brain Trust!" "The Dream Team" "Mr.
President!" "Master Chairmen!" "Ladies and Gentlemen, We've Got A
quorum!" ... He was like the energizer bunny every Sunday. The only
time I would see him happier would be on Election Days. He was so contagiously alive the morning of big elections that I always thought political consultants wasted so much money on trying to figure out how to get out the vote, when all they had to do was make sure their targets watched Tim Russert.
He was high on civic adrenaline.
But not this Sunday. The greenroom was fuller than ever with NBC executives visiting from New York and Washington colleagues there just to support us. But, at the same time, it was emptier than ever. I couldn't look any of the guests in the eye. They were too close. I was too raw. I even turned down a hug from another of the civic enthusiasts, Doris Kearns Goodwin. I just put up my hand and she understood. I had to get through the next hour and I didn't know if I could.
Miraculously, we did it. Tim was our control room angel. The show was a homerun.
Luke, America's Son
Luke Russert came to our show on Sunday to buck us up. Read that sentence one more time. Let it sink in, and you will see how safe the Russert legacy is. Tim's name is in good hands.
The amazing thing about Luke is he is the only person I can think of today who is famous for being loved.
And, boy, was he loved. Tim was so broken hearted when his only child and best buddy left home to go to Boston College that Tim seriously
started researching becoming a foster parent.
Tim's creativity became apparent when you saw how many excuses he found to go to Boston in the next four years. I always laughed that if the Boston City Council had asked Tim to moderate a debate he would have jumped at the chance.
Luke has so many of his dad's qualities it is heart-warming - right down to the messy hair.
I still remember one flight back from New Hampshire when Maureen had called Tim to tell him that Luke had broken his curfew. The call that ensued was such an intense interrogation that I thought that the politicians had it easy.
Root, Root, Root for the Home Team.
It was 7 am on a Saturday morning at National Airport. I was half asleep, so I nearly jumped when a bombastic voice snuck up behind me, "Have you ever been to God's Country before Michelle?" And there was Tim and his Cheshire cat grin. I was confused for a second before the meaning had hit me: We were headed to Buffalo.
Going to Buffalo with Tim Russert is like going to Graceland with Elvis.
The difference between traveling with Tim and someone like Elvis is that with famous people they stop and stare, with Tim, everyone approached him. There was none of that separation that fame usually brings. On the contrary, people greeted him as if they knew him. And Tim rewarded them. He was fluent in the language of the common man: Sports. And sure enough, 9 out of 10 people stopped him to talk about the Bills, or the Sabres, or more recently, the Boston College Eagles.
Tim loved talking sports. They were an accessible metaphor, a way to root for the underdog and a way to lift up the working class.
Cal Ripken was a hero of his. And for NBC, Tim was our Mr.
Dependable.
He was also the hardest working man in television. How many people do you know who have reached the very top of their profession who still work harder than the day they started?
And that is why, for the past decade, I set my alarm for 3:45 am so I could put on a suit and show up for work on Sunday with a smile. I was lucky enough to work for a man who defined excellence. How could I give anything less?
I think of Tim now and smile, for it is true, that he has surely arrived in God's country.
A homecoming of sorts.
A new nominee for the post of American ambassador to Armenia, Mary Yovanovitch, faces a Senate confirmation hearing today, but she won't be making any direct reference to the Armenian genocide. That's in line with the longstanding policy of the State Department and several administrations to give Turkey a rhetorical pass on recognition of the crimes that took the lives of 1.5 Armenian men, women and children nearly a century ago.
For many years we have joined with Armenian Americans, many foreign governments and people who care about an honest accounting of history in criticizing the U.S. reticence, and we did so again today in this editorial.
American officials have been reluctant to upset the Turks owing to that nation's strategic value as an ally. But that kind of realpolitik doesn't wash with the survivors of the genocide, nor should it. Acknowledging the past is the best way for Turkey to move forward, especially with its quest for membership in the European Union, which is stymied in large part because of Turkey's failure to own up to its own history.
Tuesday was the first full day that same-sex couples could get legally married in California, and dozens of Valley couples rushed in to take the big step. This is big history, but for entrepreneurs, it's also big business.
As we wrote in today's editorial (click here), there is big opportunity to make money.
Ad Age magazine reported that a UCLA study projects that the Golden State will see $683.6 million in direct spending over the next three years, thanks to California couples and out-of-state couples flocking here to seek same-sex marriages. During that same period, the study projects 2,178 jobs will be created in the state to service the industry.
Valley merchants already have their game on and were advertising their services during the marriage marathon Tuesday.
I'm on a media conference call with Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto and Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines of Clovis. They're discussing a Republican proposal released today to reform the state's budget system.
As we all know, reform is needed because the Legislature and governor again will not meet this year's budget deadlines. Gridlock has replaced compromise in the Capitol when it comes to the budget. No wonder there's a $15 billion to $17 billion deficit.
The main points of the GOP proposal is to require a spending limit that restricts the growth of government spending to the combined growth in population and inflation in our state. The plan also would create a "rainy day" fund to save money in good economic times to be spent in poor economic times. The proposal also would mandate a temporary cut in sales tax when the state's debts are paid and the reserve account is fully funded.
The Republicans have a point about the Democrats' spending habits. The current system has the Legislature spending every dime in good years, with nothing left in a savings account for bad economic times.
But the answer to the state's budget problems is a much more balanced approach. Creating a rainy day fund that requires the Legislature to save money is a great idea. Lawmakers also should not spend more than the state takes in. Inefficient programs can't be scared cows. Reduce their funding or dump them altogether. Tax loopholes should be closed, even though helping millionaires buying yachts. And don't be afraid to impose a small and temporary tax increase to help close the budget deficit.
Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans concede they will not pass a budget by the time the fiscal year begins on July 1. I say if lawmakers don't do their jobs, don't pay them. Now that's a budget reform that Cogdill and Villines ought to be pushing.
Underdog Fresno State continues to win at the College World Series in Omaha. The undefeated Bulldogs knocked off North Carolina 5-3 today, and will play again on Friday.
The Bulldogs, who lead their bracket, will take on the winner of Thursday's game between North Carolina and LSU on Friday at 4 p.m. (California time). North Carolina and LSU are in an elimination game, with the loser going home. The only other team still undefeated in the CWS is Georgia, which leads the other bracket. They're the Bulldogs, too, so all Dogs are doing well in the CWS.
Fresno State, which last played in the College World Series in 1991, wasn't supposed to get to the regionals this year, let along being undefeated in the CWS. But the Dogs went on an incredible run, winning the Long Beach regionals and then the super regional in Tempe, Ariz., to get to Omaha. Fresno State defeated Rice on Sunday to open World Series play.
Rice and Florida both have gone home with two losses. Fresno State is 2-0 in Omaha, and looking to make this the Cinderella season that Red Wavers have hoped for.
Is it just me or is anyone else bored by this back-and-forth between the extreme fringes of science and the religious -- each pretending that the other doesn't have value? That's not even a little bit smart. In those debates, no matter how eloquent the speakers, I find that both sides ignore such obvious truths that they embarrass themselves. What do you think?
My friend, Kim Leslie, a United Methodist pastor and a high school English teacher, passed on to me a very refreshing note about an organization called The Clergy Letter Project
The founder of this project, Michael Zimmerman, is the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler University in Indianapolis. His simple notion is that religion and science can be compatible and to offer an alternative voice to those who claim that modern science must be refuted if a religious life is to be lived.
He says it this way:
The Clergy Letter Project has two major initiatives. First, we have collected more than 11,400 signatures from Christian clergy on a simple two paragraph letter explaining exactly these points. See the Web site by clicking here.
Second, we have an annual Evolution Weekend event in which hundreds of congregations from around the world participate by doing something to elevate the dialogue about the compatibility of religion and science. Last year’s event had 814 congregations from every state and five countries participating.
And here is the letter:
Within the community of Christian believers there are areas of dispute and disagreement, including the proper way to interpret Holy Scripture. While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook. Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible – the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark – convey timeless truths about God, human beings, and the proper relationship between Creator and creation expressed in the only form capable of transmitting these truths from generation to generation. Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts.
We the undersigned, Christian clergy from many different traditions, believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist. We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as “one theory among others” is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children. We believe that among God’s good gifts are human minds capable of critical thought and that the failure to fully employ this gift is a rejection of the will of our Creator. To argue that God’s loving plan of salvation for humanity precludes the full employment of the God-given faculty of reason is to attempt to limit God, an act of hubris. We urge school board members to preserve the integrity of the science curriculum by affirming the teaching of the theory of evolution as a core component of human knowledge. We ask that science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth. .
Now, that is more than a little bit smart.
 Jacquelyn Smiser, a letter writer in today's paper, brings up an easy way everyone can save hundreds of gallons of water each week.
"You know the old saying: 'If it's brown, flush it down. If it's yellow, let it mellow.' I figure we can all do the mellow thing. How about it, fellow citizens, can we become the 'Mellow Yellow' capital of California?"
We wrote in our Sunday editorial about California's water emergency. It will take a three-pronged effort -- new surface storage (dams), increased underground storage (waterbanking and aquifer recharge) and more effective conservation efforts -- to have enough water for our future water needs. But there are so many things -- like "letting it mellow" -- that we can do to decrease our own household water usage.
This Web site, EarthEasy.com, lists 25 tips for easy ways to conserve water at home.
Boy, the acorn never falls far from the tree. Hank Steinbrenner, co-chairman of the New York Yankees and son of the famously braying George, cut loose with a diatribe against the National League after one of his pitchers, Chien-Ming Wang, was injured running the bases in an interleague game with the Houston Astros.
That wouldn't have happened in the American League, where pitchers don't hit or run the bases. But National League eschews the use of the designated hitter, and that's got Hank's back up.
“My only message is simple,” Steinbrenner said. “The National League needs to join the 21st century. They need to grow up and join the 21st century. ... I’ve got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He’s going to be out. I don’t like that, and it’s about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s.”
"Don't give me that traditionalist crap," he added.
Well, the National League could adopt the DH, I suppose. A better idea might be for the American League to teach its pitchers how to run. Or perhaps Mr. Steinbrenner could take a few weeks off this summer, find a nice, quiet spot, and try to grow a brain.
There's enough drama in today's high schools, with broken families, school violence and academic pressures without administrators dreaming up life lessons intended to traumatize the students. In an effort to teach students the dangers of driving and drinking, students at El Camino High School were told their friends were dead. We objected to such a cruel tactic in an editorial Saturday, saying this was an abuse of authority. Schools cannot use corporal punishment on children and they should not be able to inflict emotional injury on them either. Read the editorial by clicking here.
The reaction was predictable: crying, a cellphone blitz, hysterics. What do you think? Would you support such a lesson for yourself or your children?
If you are taking part in a same-sex marriage this week, as a guest, a participant or an officiant, tell us how it's going. What's the reaction of family and friends? Do you have qualms about the uncertainty of its legal status? What kind of ceremony and celebration is planned? Is this causing a ruckus among your nearest and dearest or is everyone all good with it? What is it like to be a part of this -- does it make you uncomfortable or are you happy for the newlyweds? Let us know how the county clerk's office copes with everything tomorrow.
If you get married or celebrate the union of another couple, post your photos to Flickr and add them to the “Central Valley Photos” group or add the keyword “centralvalleygaymarriage.”
One impact of high gasoline prices is already becoming clear: Train ridership in California is rising rapidly. The San Joaquin route, which includes Fresno, has seen an increase of 12.6% in passengers between October and May. That's an additional 580,000 riders.
The numbers are even better for the Capitol Corridor, which connects Sacramento to the Bay Area. That route now carries 13.2% more passengers, up 1.1 million. The Pacific Surfliner, which connects San Diego and San Luis Obispo by way of Los Angeles, grew 4.9%, or 1.8 million.
Similar numbers are coming in across the nation. In the heavily traveled Northeast corridor, for instance, the semi-high-speed Acela trains have grabbed 42% of the market, and rising.
All of this growth is happening despite the shortcomings of Amtrak, which are significant. Amtrak's on-time performance isn't good, largely because the trains must share tracks with freight trains, and often have to pull over and sit while the freight trains lumber by. But an increasing number of people are making the rail choice anyway.
That's good news for everyone. Air pollution is reduced, highway congestion is eased and many ex-drivers are finding themselves in much better moods at the end of the trip -- not to mention the fatter wallets they have because they aren't buying so much gasoline.
The price of gasoline in California at the beginning of 2001 was $1.60 a gallon. That was the highest in the nation and motorists in other parts of the country were paying in the neighborhood of $1.39 a gallon. We are approaching $5 per gallon now, but what did you expect when we decided to put someone from the oil industry in the White House?
We were using a lot of gasoline at the time in 2001. SUVs were the vehicle of choice and we never thought gas would hit $2 a gallon, let alone 5 bucks. Then the 9/11 terrorists attacks occurred, we went to war, first in Afghanistan and then Iraq. The gas price creep broke into a full run, and the president had no idea of how to control prices -- if he really wanted to.
The problem is, he's been out of touch on energy policy. The president would default to the standard Republican talking points: Gas would be cheap if we drilled in Alaska or off the shores of California and Florida. But he never made that part of his energy policy. In fact, he's never had much of an energy policy. That's probably because his pals think everything is fine.
Bush was stunned at a press conference in February when he was asked what he thought about gas prices approaching $4 a gallon. He was unclear on how to answer, finally saying this, according to the AP: "That's interesting. I hadn't heard that. . . I know it's high now."
There are many non-market reasons for high gasoline prices in California -- environmental restrictions, including reformulated gas; limited mass transit in most parts of the state; high gas taxes. But we had those same issues in 2001, yet gas prices have tripled. In addition, the high prices have reduced demand (just ask car dealers with SUVs on their lots). But that hasn't slowed down the price increase.
The weak dollar is a factor. Read this story in the Chronicle.
But Bush hasn't done anything to fix that problem either. So if the weak dollar is a contributiing factor to high gas prices in the United States, the president has been AWOL there, too.
Gee, how can we blame the president for high gas prices, a depressed economy and failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? It's got to be the Democrats' fault.
Bee reporter John Ellis put together this Q&A on the city's handling of the homeless issue that took it from trying to resolve the problems to paying out millions after Mayor Alan Autry and his city team bungled the issue. Click here to read this informative Q&A that ran in today's Bee.
It explains how complicated this issue is and gives the background on the maneuvering that brought the city to agreeing to a $2.25 million settlement last week. The city had every right to clear the illegal homeless camps, but the federal court said it couldn't take and destroy personal property. That could have been resolved simply in advance of the city's action.
Here is part of the Q&A:
What is the city doing now?
After a hiatus while the lawsuit wound its way through court, the city is once again cleaning up homeless encampments. As mandated by the court, the city is holding items seized for 90 days so homeless residents can claim the items. To date, officials say, nobody has claimed any held item.
If you want to understand this tricky social issue, read Ellis' report.
"Don't get nuts," is what a good friend used to tell me when I was perilously close to overreacting to something. And that's the essence of the message from The Bee's editorial today on the tomato contamination scare. False fears make no one safer, yet can cause untold grief on thousands of Valley families thrown out of work. We're all safe eating cherry, grape or on-the-vine tomatoes. Plus California tomatoes taste the best and they have already been cleared as safe by the FDA.
I heard some criticism of a portion of The Bee editorial board's comment on Tuesday's appearance of Mayor Alan Autry before U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger. The editorial, which you can read by clicking here, said Wanger was "angered" when the mayor criticized the federal court over a homeless settlement that the city agreed to with the American Civil Liberties Union.
One critic said that was not an accurate reflection of Wanger's motivation. Once Autry began publicly criticizing the homeless settlement, the court was obligated to see if the city was going to follow through on its agreement to settle the case. Otherwise, Wanger had a jury ready to hear the case, and would have been required to hold the trial if there was not a valid settlement. That was the purpose of Tuesday's hearing, not the result of an "angry" judge summoning the mayor to court because he was upset by Autry's comments. The legal issue was whether the city was going to live up to its agreement in the proposed settlement.
Wanger has a reputation of being an even-handed judge with a solid temperament, and those in the courtroom Tuesday said the judge didn't do anything to undermine that reputation. That patience has served Wanger well since being named to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991.
Autry, though, is a politician and he can say just about anything he wants -- they call it "spin" -- and it seldom backfires. The homeless comments, however, almost blew up in his face. But Autry understands this: Most of the public will cheer you on if you bash the courts, lawyers and judges, So the mayor probably made political points.
What Autry won't tell you when he's bashing the courts is the judges are interpreting the law that elected officials have passed. They often create a mess in the courts because politicians prefer ducking tough issues, leaving the intent of their actions open to legal interpretation. Then they blame the legal system for problems they instigated.
It's not only Mr. Big, of "Sex and the City," who's got wedding panic. It's Mr. and Ms. Big, Medium and Small, too. If your dearest darling is suddenly noncommittal about commitment, blame it on the Congress. This dreary, droopy, poopy economy is gradually turning even passionate lovers into procrastinators and commitmentphobes. Even the gay marriage excitement everyone expects to be such a big deal may get a cold chill when the couples look at each other's savings account balances in the cold light of the ATM.
My household certainly isn't jumping into any big financial commitments in the near future, how about yours?
A story in the most recent issue of the national forecasting magazine called The Futurist, says the money is really making us nervous. That's not "crystal ball" people talking, it's accountants. Talk about the jitters:
Concern about the economy's future is compelling 41% of American adults to delay making major life decisions, such as buying a home, marrying, or even undergoing a medical procedure, according to a Harris Interactive poll for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. This response is 11 percentage points higher than a year ago. A lack of savings is the main reason cited (28%) for delaying life decisions, while 18% pointed to concerns about the overall U.S. economy. "It's alarming that so many more people are choosing not to get married, buy a home, or further their education because they don't have the money," says Carl George of AICPA, which has developed programs to promote financial literacy and personal savings.
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