You’re reading it here first on the FR Blog:

Enviro elements inside Governor Schwarzenegger’s administration and family — such as State Parks Director Ruth Coleman and State Park and Recreation Commission Bobby Shriver — have been lobbying hard to stop the tollroad.

I’ve learned the Schwarzenegger Administration has now requested that the F/ETCA Board delay tomorrow’s vote by 30 days.

Business, Transportation and Housing Secretary Sunne McPeak and Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman sent a letter to today to F/ETCA Chairman Ken Ryan… Read More

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I visited the San Clemente office of the Transportation Corridor Agencies for an informational briefing and tour of the proposed completion of the 241 tollway in South Orange County.

You can find out more about the Green Alternative — which the EIR identified as the preferred route among the six alternatives — here.

The environmentalists have numerous objections to the Green Alternative, among them:

1) They claim it threatens the arroyo toads, the pocket mouse, and several other plant and animal species.

2) That it touches San Onofre State Beach — a park the state leases from Camp Pendleton.

3) That it wrecks the tranquility of the San Onofre State Park campgrounds.

4) That it will damage San Mateo Creek, which "flows" through the state park.

5) That it even exists.

From the level of rhetoric emanating from the environmentalist camp, you think TCA was paving over Yellowstone Park. So I… Read More

Chris Magnus just moved from Fargo, North Dakota to the East Bay city of Richmond. Magnus is not relocating for some cushy, high-tech executive job–he’s agreed to become the City of Richmond‘s new police chief. Richmond‘s new top cop, who started his first day on the job yesterday, jumps from the nation’s 12th safest city to California‘s most lethal city. (Last year, Richmond had 40 homicides, more per capita than any other city in the state.)

Magnus is taking on an enormous job.… Read More

As if it wasn’t official before.

Here’s what the anonymous SD Politics Blog is posting about Morrow’s announcement:

On The Issues: “I promise you, I will never vote for a tax increase, and I will fight everyday for smaller government, and less regulation. And as a social conservative, I will also continue to fight for the rights of the unborn, and I will workto preserve and strengthen our Second Amendment rights.”

In The News: The North County Times gave a raspberry to Bill Morrow in Sunday’s Roses & Raspberries section for asking “anti-immigration extremist Mike Chase to join Morrow’s congressional campaign steering committee”. Apparently, anyone who isn’t open to full amnesty but does support secure borders is an extremist. Quite frankly, I’m not sure how a hard-line on… Read More

I can’t think of public sector job I would enjoy less than being a member of the Board of Equalization. But for some reason we keep getting candidates for the job that precludes members from earning outside income.

Assemblyman (and former State Senator) Ray Haynes announced today that he has the support of two key Riverside officials Supervisors John Tavaglione and Marion Ashley. Its not a surprise but demonstrates that someone is paying attention to this sleepy position. Haynes is running against Michelle Steel (wife of California Republican Party Immediate Past Chairman Shawn Steel) a successful businesswoman and key Bush fund raiser.

Both candidates recently announced money raised/in the bank, Steel had the advantage. Both say they have lots of slates lines up–which is a big part of BOE campaigns since they cover such a massive number of voters (there are only 4 regions statewide).

Haynes has the advantage of having been in elective office for more than a decade representing a piece of the BOE district and being a prolific published opinion writer/contributor to newspapers in the region. Steel has sizable… Read More

In a few minutes I am leaving for a tour of the proposed alignment for the 241 tollroad completion. This has become a hot political issue in Orange County — as is the case anytime there is an attempt to build a road where one doesn’t currently exist. Given the environmental crowd’s near-religious reverence for every granule of dirt, I suppose controversy and litigation will always dog plans to improve the lives of taxpaying motorists until they figure out a way to build roads that don’t physically touch the ground.

But I digress.

Tomorrow the Foothil/Eastern Transportation Corridors Agency (F/ETCA) Board of Directors will vote on the proposed route for the 241 completion. The enviros are going beserk because it cuts through a portion of San Onofre State Park.

Never mind that this state park land is leased from Camp Pendleton, and that when the lease was signed it made provision for the completion of the 241 — after all, there are toads and weeds at stake here!

… Read More

Every once in a while, a column comes along that really moves you – or causes you to think about something in a totally different way. Today’s Golden Pen Award winner is famed economist Walter Williams. Williams really gets to the core of the problem in Washington, D.C. — and it is not the lobbyists. Yeah, what Jack Abramoff did was wrong, but the solution to stopping this problem does not lie with ‘reforms aimed at lobbyists’ – but rather an introspective look by Congress at itself.

Williams, in part, writes:

Every once in a while, a column comes along that really moves you – or causes you to think about something in a totally different way. Today’s Golden Pen Award winner is famed economist Walter Williams. Williams really gets to the core of the problem in Washington, D.C. — and it is not the lobbyists. Yeah, what Jack Abramoff did was wrong, but the solution to stopping this problem does not lie with ‘reforms aimed at lobbyists’ – but rather an introspective look by Congress at itself.

Williams, in part, writes: