Earlier in the week, I posted on a decision by the Court of Appeals in Orange County agreeing to hear arguments on a writ filing on behalf of Trung Nguyen, who won the election day balloting for First District Supervisor, but in a recount, was deemed by the Orange County Registrar of Voters to then be the loser. Janet Nguyen was sworn in after being certified with margin of votes you could count on two hands. Anyway, I threw out an amazing statistic about how the Appeals Court only hears 1 in 100 or so writs that are filed with the court, and made it sound like that hurdle had been jumped by Trung’s legal team.

In another reminder of why we should let lawyers blog about this legal-beagle stuff, I was wrong. The Court has not agreed to hear the matter, they have agreed to take written testimony on why they should or should not hear the matter.

So while I would imagine it is not that easy to get even to the point where the Appellate Court wants to hear such arguments, Trung Nguyen’s legal challenge to the original Judge’s… Read More

This tidbit appeared in the Capitol Morning Report today: Today is the last day to take the "Waterless Urinals 101" class at the Cal/EPA building. The building manager, Thomas Properties Group, has offered the class three times this week to prepare male staffers for urinals that not only don’t flush but have no water. The secret is a urine-trapping cartridge that replaces the drain of a traditional urinal. The urine flows through the cartridge and is sealed beneath a check valve made of the same material used for leg urinals for astronauts. Odors are also sealed beneath the valve. Urine then flows down through the building’s plumbing. (Plain urine, it seems, is no more corrosive… Read More

One would think from Dennis Hollingsworth’s bill package this year that he’s got it out for sexually violent predators or something, or maybe even that he believes the state should be trying to protect kids. Now, there’s a thought. Perhaps that’s why he’s the legislative chairman of Project KidSafe.

Kudos to Sen. Hollingsworth for focusing onlegislation where it will mean the most. If another legislator has a set of bills as "KidSafe"-oriented as this one, let’s pay some tribute there as well…just let me know.

Now, if we can just get the majority party to support a few of these:

Project KidSafe: Sexually Violent Predators (SVPs)

Falsifying Registration Information: In October 2006, a Sexually Violent Predator named Matt Lyon Williams was released unconditionally in East San Diego County and proceeded to register as a transient. His case revealed several loopholes in the sex offender laws.… Read More

This is my Friday the 13th blog. Diane Dimond wrote a great book about Michael Jackson’s infidelities called "Be Careful Who You Love." Given the New York Times report today about Karl Rove’s emails, one could also say, "be careful who you email."

Pesky Congressional Democrats are seeking copies of Rove’s emails as further proof of misdoing regarding the U.S. Attorney scandal, which itself is a scandal, since the President has constitutional authority to appoint and remove U.S. Attorneys.

Nevertheless, Congressman Waxman (D-LA, CA) insists that according to the "Presidential Records Act," a sort of Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") applied to the White House, that he is entitled to copies of all of Rove’s emails, even those sent and received through a private RNC system set-up in the White House.

Who knows how this will resolve itself. It is all a bunch of foolishness from the Democrats anyway, since between 1933 and 1981 there are probably 50 years of incriminating interoffice memos between Democratic Presidents, Congressional democrats, and the DNCabout… Read More

Have you ever read the story of Chicken Little? An acorn falls on his head that he proceeds to whip up everyone in his land up into a frenzy that the sky is falling? I am reminded of that story when I read poll results that show many Californians so worried about global warming. Lately, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been like Chicken Little with a megaphone, so of course everyone is worked up. Eventually, in the story, everyone realizes that the sky, of course, is not falling. The question I have is how much freedom and liberty will be eroded because an acorn fell on Al Gore’s head? A reader pointed out to me that the Communications Director for the California Restaurant Association, Jordan Traverso, has left there to accept a new job with the Consumer Attorneys of California (formerly the California Trial Lawyers Association). Suggestion for the CRA — you should replace Traverso with someone who actually believes that trial lawyers bear much of the blame for the high costs of operating restaurants! There is a story today about hi-speed rail travel. I am sure I speak for … Read More

Currently held by Alan Nakanishi, the race in the 10th district is starting to come into shape. The strongest candidates making moves early on have been Paul Hegyi (Assemblyman Tran COS), David Sander (Mayor of Rancho Cordova), and Jack Sieglock (former San Joaquin County Supervisor). After a recent conversation I held with El Dorado County Supervisor Helen Baumann it now seems there are four at the head of the pack.

Baumann has hired consultant Jim Nygren and has strong ties in the wine industry which will help not only in Amador but in San Joaquin as well. If Baumann can make inroads into Lodi’s wine industry in San Joaquin it will make life much more difficult for Sieglock, who needs to have a solid win out of San Joaquin to win. Now the question is if Rusty DuPray, her colleague in El Dorado gets into the race. Two candidates splitting such a small geographic region could easily isolate them both.… Read More

Have you ever read the story of Chicken Little? An acorn falls on his head that he proceeds to whip up everyone in his land up into a frenzy that the sky is falling? I am reminded of that story when I read poll results that show many Californians so worried about global warming. Lately, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been like Chicken Little with a megaphone, so of course everyone is worked up. Eventually, in the story, everyone realizes that the sky, of course, is not falling. The question I have is how much freedom and liberty will be eroded because an acorn fell on Al Gore’s head? A reader pointed out to me that the Communications Director for the California Restaurant Association, Jordan Traverso, has left there to accept a new job with the Consumer Attorneys of California (formerly the California Trial Lawyers Association). Suggestion for the CRA — you should replace Traverso with someone who actually believes that trial lawyers bear much of the blame for the high costs of operating restaurants! There is a story today about hi-speed rail travel. I am sure I speak for … Read More

For those of you that missed it, below is my exclusive interview with Mayor Giuliani from last month (it’s in two parts). FLASHREPORT INTERVIEW WITH RUDY, PART 1 FLASHREPORT INTERVIEW WITH RUDY, PART 2 … Read More