Welcome To The Court

(Editor’s Note: It was a gold, desktop, battery-powered grasshopper oil derrick that, when switched on, bobbed up and down. At the time, such derricks were atop Signal Hill in Long Beach. Just under 32 months after this letter was written, in November 1986, voters removed Bird and two other justices from the court.    Read more »

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Our Growing Tax Burden…

Total tax burden in California reached a new high estimated at $12.7 billion for fiscal 1960, according to the California Taxpayers Association. Taxes in the previous year amounted to $11.1 billion.

In comparison, individual incomes for the state amounted to about $39.6 billion for 1959 and are estimated at $42.3 billion for 1960.    Read more »

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Reflections on Inaugurations Past and Present — By Jerry Waldie

Like millions of viewers, I marveled at the excellence of the Inaugural celebration of President Obama. Every moment seemed unique and positive.

Not all such celebrations in which I had personally participated while in Washington, D.C. have had a similar positive effect on me. I do not recall any particular moment of President Nixon’s first Inauguration — though it certainly was not viewed by the huge numbers President Obama’s ceremony attracted.    Read more »

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Guest Post: An “Interview” with B.T. Collins

AN INTERVIEW WITH B.T. COLLINS 

On March 19, 1993, B.T. Collins died in a Sacramento hospital of a heart attack following a prolonged bout with a series of medical conditions.  He was anything but the average 52-year old who died too young. B.T. was an exceptional person, as anyone who knew him will attest.    Read more »

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Bob Monagan Remembering Jack Veneman

(Editor’s Note: The following says volumes about both men. The introductory comments are by Gabrielle Morris who interviewed Monagan for his 1982 oral history.)

Robert Monagan kindly agreed to inclusion of the following brief remarks he made at the memorial service for former Assemblyman John Veneman, held on April 13, 1982, at the Congregational Church in Modesto.    Read more »

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Bob Monagan, Former Assembly Speaker, Dead at 88

Former Assembly Speaker Robert Monagan died January 7 of natural causes at a Sacramento nursing home. He was 88.

The courtly and moderate Republican was GOP leader of the Assembly from 1965 until becoming speaker in January 1969, succeeding Democrat Jess Unruh. Monagan held the speakership until January 1971.

The former mayor of Tracy, Monagan was first elected to the Assembly in 1960, representing the 12th District, whose voter registration was two-thirds Democratic.    Read more »

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The New CIA Director

Leon Panetta, former Democratic congressman from Monterey and President Clinton’s chief of staff, has been tapped by President-elect Obama to run the Central Intelligence Agency, two anonymous Democratic officials said January 5.

While Panetta has no hands-on experience in the so-called intelligence world, he has a reputation as a good manager gleaned form both his two-and-a-half year stint as White House chief of staff and, prior to that, head of Clinton’s Office of Management and Budget.    Read more »

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Something Old That’s New in Capitol Park

There’s something old that’s new in Capitol Park.

Walk out the rear doors of California’s Capitol and head toward the pathway that runs straight through the park to 15th Street. On the left, just before the trout pond, is a sign — a replica of the sorts of signs that stood on the corners of Sacramento streets in around 1910.    Read more »

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Ann Veneman, UNICEF’s executive director

Ann Veneman, UNICEF’s executive director, has just returned from a trip to Sierra Leone and Liberia where she met Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first woman president of Liberia and the first elected woman president in Africa.

“It was a fabulous meeting, a good substantive discussion. We talked about redevelopment, agriculture, health care, nutrition and how all of that comes together.    Read more »

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Dion Aroner

Five years ago, Dion Aroner created a lobbying and consulting firm with two former members of her legislative staff, Elisabeth Jewel and Barbara Ellis. Aroner wanted to do everything by the book.

New businesses need business permits so Aroner dutifully applied for one from the City of Berkeley, which she directly represented as Assemblywoman from 1996 to 2002 and indirectly represented for the previous 24 years as former Assemblyman Tom Bates’ chief of staff.    Read more »

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