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I write today with dedication to the journalists who have given the ultimate sacrifice to bring us our freedoms.
Yesterday was Induction Day, when our heroes are formally admitted to the United States Navy from the Academy in Annapolis. Instead, we are heartbroken. People ask me what I consider my occupation. Am I a journalist, an aggregator, an analyst, or something else? I don't know. I write original content as well as try to find the most important stories written by others. Of course, the only thing that matters is that I give you a Nooner each day worth reading. I spend my life in the world of news. I rely on reporting of journalists daily, and I'm vice-president of the board of Open California, which publishes Capitol Weekly (now all online and "weekly" is not accurate, but that name has been around for a long time) and provides great events throughout the year, and count many reporters as friends. I work hard to observe journalistic ethics. Whatever my status, My heart broke with the murder of the five victims of the Capital Gazette newsroom shooting yesterday--five more for the Newseum Journalists Memorial (definitely visit if you are in DC). The murders were allegedly committed by a known antagonist of the paper and its journalists. Indeed, hate speech to the most extreme. A photojournalist also gave us this photo from Tiananmen Square. The victims, from a sales representative to veteran journalists are:
The suspect has spend the decade as an antagonist of the paper and had filed a defamation lawsuit in 2012 after it had published a story about him. This is hate speech from a coward that isn't much different than what we have seen over the last few years. Journalists from the paper didn't let the tragedy stop the news--they brought laptops to work in the parking garage. The Capital has profiles of each of the victims. Annapolis is a city of heroes, many of whom get on ships to defend all of us. The journalists and people who make sure we get the news are also conveyors of liberty to us. Every time I'm in DC, I go to the Newseum to pay respects to those who have given their lives for the cause of truth. Warriors carry guns, but they also carry cameras and pens. Two photos arguably changed the trajectory of the Vietnam War--the photo of Phan Thi Kim Phúc running away naked from a napalm drop on her village and Viet Cong general summarily execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém. REMINDER: My scott@scottlay.com email address is still in DNS hell. scottlay@gmail.com (where that other email usually goes anyway) is working just fine. NOTE: A reader contacted me because her NOONER is coming with no paragraph breaks. It's a problem with a particular email program, which replaces There's no easy solution, but remember you can always read The Nooner at www.aroundthecapitol.com/nooner/. It automatically posts as soon as all the emails are sent out, so around 12:15, typos and all. Sorry for the inconvenience! YEA! You made it to Friday and what a couple of weeks it has been. No World Cup matches today as the teams leave their group stage cities, some going home and some to a new city for the Round of 16. Meanwhile, the Dodgers host the Rockies in Chavez Ravine (7:10), the Giants are in Phoenix (6:40), the A's welcome Cleveland (7:05), the Angels are in Baltimore (4:05), and the Padres have the Pirates ship pulling into the harbor (7:10).
SCOTUS: While much has been talked about on the 5-4 decisions on abortion and gay rights on which Anthony Kennedy provided a decisive vote, there's another big one for California. Justice Kennedy also authored the 5-4 2010 decision in Brown v. Plata (563 U.S. 493) on the California prison overcrowding case, joined by the four "liberals." Of the thirteen 5-4 decisions this term holding for the conservative side, Kennedy voted with the majority in every case. THE NOVEMBER BALLOT: Well, the deadline has passed and we now have twelve measures on which to vote on November 6. Yes, you'll be voting on whether to permit the Legislaure to eliminate daylight savings time two days after "falling back" one hour. The measure also requires a change in federal law. Legislatively placed measures:
Initiative measures:
Language of all of the measures can be found here. LEAD PAINT: The two paint companies that had collected sufficient signatures for an initiative to shift the cost of lead pain abatement to the state withdrew their initiative before last night's deadline, reports Liam Dillon for the Times. In exchange, three legislative bills that would have imposed additional costs on the companies--Sherwin Williams and ConAgra--were shelved. PRIVACY: The other initiative withdrawn after a legislative compromise dealing with consumer privacy sponsored by a San Francisco real estate developer, which was strongly opposed Silicon Valley. AB 375 (Chau) is the compromise legislation, which the governor signed yesterday. While the compromise bill was opposed by most business groups, it passed the State Senate 36-0 and the Assembly 73-0. Check out the legislative gymnastics that occurred with the bill on the ballot measure deadline day: 06/28/18 Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 55, Statutes of 2018. The tech community wants to continue working on the new law, which takes effect January 1, 2020. For the LA Times, John Myers writes about the strange machinitions leading up to the ballot measure deadline last night. THE OTHER CAPITOL: Politico's Elena Schor looks at the divide in strategy among Democratic senators for the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation battle between the more moderate members of the caucus and those who have other career ambitions: “As far as possible, I don’t know how you define that,” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) told reporters when asked how far she’d go to stop Trump’s nominee. Presented with one example — boycotting confirmation hearings — Harris said only that “we’ll see.” Harris, alongside Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey, joined a Thursday rally on the Supreme Court steps to encourage the party’s base to keep mobilizing, despite their long odds of stopping Trump from a confirmation that could reshape the court for decades. The White House has indicated that it hopes for a Kennedy successor to be named before President Trump heads to Brussels for the NATO summit on July 9.
Classifieds below:
Enjoy the rest of the day, which will be a toasty one here in SacTown. I'm heading over for a tour of the California State Library this afternoon, thanks to the heads up by our amazing legislative historian Alex Vassar.
#CAKEDAY: Happy birthday to Matthew Dobler, Megan Kerr, and Larry Salinas! DEPT OF CORRECTIONS: Talking about retired Justice David Souter yesterday, I had two factual errors (one of which was fixed for the main distribution). He was 69 when he retired from the Court, and he moved to a Cape Cod-style house, but still in New Hampshire.
Add your classified of up to 100 words by emailing scottlay@gmail.com for $40/week.
California Voters Will Weigh These 12 Propositions On November's Ballot John Myers @ latimes.com The measures were certified for the Nov. 6 ballot on Thursday. While the list is shorter than the 17 propositions on the fall ballot in 2016, it still presents Californians with some complicated choices. Steyer Boosts Gillum’s Struggling Campaign With $1 Million In a move that could dramatically change the race for Florida governor, California billionaire Tom Steyer threw $1 million in organizational and advertising support to the struggling campaign of progressive candidate Andrew Gillum. Under Trump, America's Influence In The Western Pacific May Be On The Decline Barbara Demick, Tracy Wilkinson @ latimes.com The traditional U.S. role in the western Pacific, a mainstay of American foreign policy since the end of World War II, is under threat as China gains growing military and economic power and as President Trump appears to scale back U.S. commitments. The Health 202: These are the five senators to watch in the Supreme Court nomination fight Two Republicans and three Democrats make up the Senate's swing vote. U.S. Allows Nestle To Keep Taking Water From Southern California Forest Associated Press @ latimes.com U.S. officials offered Nestle, the maker of Arrowhead bottled water, a three-year permit to keep taking millions of gallons of water from the San Bernardino National Forest, but with new restrictions designed to keep a creek flowing for other uses. |