Very, very big trees. Discuss all things California. http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sat, 25 May 2013 18:29:48 Sat, 25 May 2013 18:29:48 [b]Covered California Announces Plans and Rates for 2014[/b]
[i]Consumers will have access to more than 80% of practicing physicians, 80% of acute care hospitals through 13 commercial health plans[/i]

SACRAMENTO, CA – Covered California™ today announced 13 diverse health insurance plans that wil... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403531 Thu, 23 May 2013 22:36:55 [div class="excerpt"]MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2013
Contact: Sarah Gordon 619-694-8463

DON’T DELAY PAST MAY: PREPARE FOR WILDFIRE
Residents Urged to Clear Defensible Space, Plan for Family Readiness

California has already seen 1,569 wildfires this year, about 500 more ... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403524 Tue, 21 May 2013 14:01:33 http://www.peoplesworld.org/despite-growing-revenue-calif-governor-shrinks-budget-proposal/

[div class="excerpt"]

Despite reports of increased income tax revenue in the first four months of the year, Gov. Jerry Brown May 14 proposed a $96.4 billion general fund budget - $1.3 billion lower than... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403519 Sun, 19 May 2013 23:00:14 http://sfist.com/2013/05/17/x_signs_you_havent_been_in_sf_long.php


I'm not sure I'm getting everything... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403513 Sat, 18 May 2013 16:08:06 A Saratoga, Califorina, High School student, Eesha Khare, is one of two runners up at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which took place in Phoenix this week.

Eesha has developed a new supercapacitor, that fits inside a cellphone battery, and can charge in 20 to 30 seconds. ... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403511 Sat, 18 May 2013 12:55:43 That’s the plan for the Jeannette Etheredge era at Tosca Cafe (242 Columbus Ave.), which will come to its conclusion after one last night of service on Sunday (May 19th, 2013). As reported earlier this year, Tosca Cafe is in the process of being sold to Ken Friedman and chef April Bloomfield. The ne... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403509 Fri, 17 May 2013 10:54:07 http://daraja-academy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/bay-to-breakers-may-17.jpg
Cops tout Bay to Breakers security plan
By: Staff report | 05/16/13 8:56 PM

Roughly 100,000 people are expected at this year’s Bay to Breakers race. Local and federal officials, as well as extra video surveillance,... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403507 Fri, 17 May 2013 00:13:41 I couldn't believe it when I saw it today. All the people involved in the Iraq War should be in jail not giving speeches. It's this coming Monday 5/20 at 7:00 PM. :grr:... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403502 Wed, 15 May 2013 13:50:00 WUI fire Fire contained to two acres of vegetation. One structure and two outbuildings damaged. [Final]
Posted by Robert O'Connor
CA-RRU-Walnut Wildland Fire - CA-RRU-49260

CAL FIRE/Riverside County Firefighters are on scene of a fire involving a structure and vegetation. Updates will be posted... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403498 Tue, 14 May 2013 19:08:54 and Sacramento, in most instances, is happy to oblige. From John Diaz of the San Francisco Chronicle, May 12 2013:

[div class="excerpt"]California’s professional sports teams — or developers hoping to attract a professional sports team — know exactly where to go for relief from the state’s often... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403489 Sun, 12 May 2013 12:48:33 It is now part of a conglomerate called the "Bay Area News Group", along with several papers in the East Bay.

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_23211501/move-merc-into-old-city-hall

[div class="excerpt"]Santa Clara County has an old San Jose City Hall building it wants to unload. The... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403482 Fri, 10 May 2013 12:23:53 The regulation of medical marijuana in Los Angeles is a mess and has been ever since Proposition 215 was approved by California voters in November 1996.

Repeated state and city efforts to bring the chaotic situation under control have had little effect. A move by the City Council in 2007 to regis... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403480 Fri, 10 May 2013 11:23:02 Once upon a time, the University of California was a sacred trust, the top tier of a model educational system that helped lift the state to unprecedented prosperity. It was jealously protected from outside political interference.

Now UC is more often described in profane terms. The state's entire... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403478 Fri, 10 May 2013 10:59:14 Pasadena Gun Buy Back this Saturday, May 11.

You can exchange your gun for a gift card from Ralph’s, Target or Best Buy, as follows:


•$50 for a non-working firearm
•$100 for handguns, rifles, or shotgun
•$200 for assault (military style) weapon

This buy back will occur on the Saturday... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403476 Thu, 09 May 2013 23:08:28 BottleRock — wine country’s inaugural entry in the rock ‘n’ roll festival business — is here.

A massive five-day music festival, BottleRock Napa Valley opens at the 26-acre Napa Valley Expo tonight with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis delivering offbeat and serious messages buoyed by fun, danceable mus... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403467 Wed, 08 May 2013 15:53:51 I have four solutions:

1) Dedicated transit only routes that physically exclude non transit from transit corridors.

2) Fewer stops...many areas MUNI stops each block or two.

3) Express routes that have stops every mile or so and go across town.

4) Bus rapid transit on Geary Blvd.

... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403464 Wed, 08 May 2013 01:27:25 [div class="excerpt"][b]BART to Start Banning Peeing and Pooping Criminals From its Trains Today[/b] :tsk:

May 6 2013 at 7:45 AM

Back in January, we warned you that BART would start coming down hard on those miscreants who think it's okay to pee, poop, and stab people on their way home. Fou... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403453 Tue, 07 May 2013 17:24:33 Not a lot, but hopefully enough to put a little damper on fire season. We just got dumped on in Southern Napa County. ... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403438 Mon, 06 May 2013 18:31:21 [b]Prop. 13 loophole gives edge to big players[/b]

Change of ownership, key to reassessment, is cut-and-dried for homeowners but not businesses. It means a loss of tens of millions of dollars a year in tax revenue.

By Jason Felch and Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times
May 4, 2013

In 2006, billi... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403430 Sun, 05 May 2013 04:48:01 Several of us in the community have managed to come up with the funding for seven portable toilets at five different homeless encampments in downtown Fresno. Unfortunately, we are out of toilet paper, which is an essential ingredient to keep this operation going. You see, if there is no TP available... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403426 Sat, 04 May 2013 14:22:57 we're south east of Thousand Oaks in the west valley ..there is no wind so maybe that will help contain some of the fires ......been a very dry winter (whats new ? ) and unfortunately the hills are bone dry ....hope everyone is safe out there .... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403422 Fri, 03 May 2013 20:39:03 [div class="excerpt"]http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site571/2013/0501/20130501_080125_ssjm0502calgrowth90_500.jpg

As a rapidly recovering job market attracts armies of young tech workers, Santa Clara County is now the fastest-growing county in California, new figures from the state D... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403420 Fri, 03 May 2013 14:08:16 A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by Los Angeles against air quality regulators who are requiring the city to do more to control dust on a lake that was siphoned dry a century ago to provide water for the booming metropolis.

U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii granted a motion Wedne... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403417 Fri, 03 May 2013 00:09:39 Rubio (D) is vacating to spend more time with family and Chevron, so May 21st there will be a special election. This is part of the battle to keep our 2/3rds majority, so even if we aren't voting in this district, it would be good to see who is running and who to support.

PAULINA MIRANDA Democ... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403416 Wed, 01 May 2013 00:45:07 Just got an email from IATSE endorsing Wendy Greuel. Wondering what DUers think.

[div class="excerpt"]You are probably aware that the Los Angeles Mayoral race is in the home stretch. Election day is just a few weeks away. In this election we are fortunate to have a candidate who is a friend of o... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403412 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:50:21 I live in a neighborhood with a good number of Craftsman and California Mission style houses. Many are being remodeled. I see a lot of these colors, usually in duos - one main color one trim color. Also a deep lemon yellow as trim / highlight. Anyone else noticed this?

fwiw, I love the look. Clea... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403405 Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:17:16 AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry said Friday he’s disgusted a California newspaper ran a cartoon that depicts him boasting about booming business in Texas, then shows an explosion, a week after a fertilizer plant explosion killed 14 people in a Texas town.

Perry said he wants an apology from the S... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403392 Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:14:58 The time has come to put the Medical Board of California out of its misery.

The board oversees the licensing of doctors and their discipline for misdeeds or incompetence. It also has jurisdiction over doctor-owned surgical clinics. Long ago the board acquired the reputation of being one of the le... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403390 Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:40:46 CRESCENT CITY, California--A barnacle-covered fishing boat that washed ashore this month in Crescent City, California, has been confirmed as the first debris from the 2011 tsunami in Japan to reach California's shores.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration confirmed the boat's origin on... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403388 Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:32:12 As you know, Gov. Goodhair has been making the rounds out here trying to convince our businesses to move to his low-tax, low-regulation paradise (?)

http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/21/23/35/4536154/3/628x471.jpg

... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403385 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 23:47:29 On Monday, April 29, thanks to your help, AB 1301 (Bloom), a bill that would impose a state moratorium on fracking and mandate a review of the controversial practice’s health and environmental impacts, made it out of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources.

Now we face the next big hurdle: Ge... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403379 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:11:16 There are so many bags, and they are lightweight, easily carried by the wind to our natural areas, including the ocean, thanks to our almost never-ceasing strong winds. Reducing the bags, which these actions will do, will reduce pollution from them, though it won't eliminate it, reducing the supply... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403367 Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:16:32 A collection of vintage postcards, distributed by Getty Images, offers a glimpse of life in San Francisco during the first half of the 20th century. This series covers the period from 1900 to 1930.

http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/21/15/31/4511300/0/940x583.jpg

http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/21/15/31/... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403360 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:07:05 http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130416022028-01-rcrp-cnn-exploratorium-1522-horizontal-gallery.jpg
San Francisco (CNN) -- At the Exploratorium, one does not stand stiffly in front of musty exhibits and read tiny placards. There is no room for boredom or passively observing. The installation... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403355 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:07:44 In L.A. I see no signs of new jobs but I see less places closing = a stalemate ?... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403340 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:43:40 [font color="navy" face="Verdana"]California DUers, you might be interested in what's happening regarding the California death penalty.

While many states are moving towards [I]abolishing[/I] the death penalty (like the rest of the civilized world), California State Sen. Joel Anderson (R) has pro... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403332 Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:10:51 Home Depot stores will pay $8 million to regional regulators and southern California counties as part of a continuing crackdown on air pollution from volatile organic compounds in paint.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District says paints are a major source of air pollution. Volatile orga... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403329 Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:42:57 http://daraja-academy.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/bay-to-breakers-may-17.jpg

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Security for San Francisco's biggest foot race is a growing concern. The Bay to Breakers race is coming up in just 32 days. Race organizers and security experts talked with ABC7 News on Tuesday... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403321 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:14:15 A long shot, but what the hey. I may be making the big move up from San Jose to civilization, as I call it :-), in six weeks or so. Any bargain-basement (around $1000) housing that is habitable will be considered. But -- and this is the key -- share and roommate situations will not.... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403313 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:46:50 [b]Myth[/b]: The State of California and taxpayers pay the total cost of public pensions.
[b]Myth:[/b] Public pension benefits are excessive and a drain on the public.
[b]Myth:[/b] CalPERS is going to run out of money because of baby boomers retiring.
[b]Myth:[/b] Pensions are among the highest c... http://www.democraticunderground.com/10403303 Sun, 14 Apr 2013 12:48:24