Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/766011
TheAssociatedPress SANFRANCISCO The Cal- ifornia Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a voter-ap- proved measure intended to speed up the appeals pro- cess for the state's Death Row inmates to give it time to consider a lawsuit chal- lenging the measure. In a one-page decision, the court stayed the "imple- mentation of all provisions of Proposition 66" and set a timeline for filing briefs. Proposition 66 would changehowappealsarehan- dled, appointing more law- yers to take cases, putting certain types of appeals be- fore trial court judges and setting a five-year dead- line for appeals to be heard. Currently, it can take longer than that for an attorney to be assigned to a case and 25 years to exhaust appeals. The lawsuit by former At- torney General John Van de Kamp and Ron Briggs, whose father wrote the bal- lot measure that expanded California's death penalty in 1978, said the reform measure would disrupt the courts,costmoremoneyand limit the ability to mount proper appeals. They said the deadlines would set "an inordinately short timeline forthecourtstoreviewthose complex cases." Supporters of the mea- sure have called the law- suit a frivolous stall tactic. California voters faced two death penalty mea- sures on the November elec- tion. They rejected a mea- sure that would have abol- ished the death penalty and narrowly approved Proposi- tion 66. STATE Highcourthaltsdeathpenaltymeasure By Julie Bykowicz The Associated Press WASHINGTON Donald Trump's children may see his move to the White House as a way to raise money for their favorite causes. Two recent fundraising pitches featuring the incom- ing first family were meant to benefit charities, but they also raised questions among ethics experts that the Trumps might be inap- propriately selling access. Last week, Eric Trump tried auctioning a coffee date with his sister Ivanka to raise money for a chil- dren's hospital. Now, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are named as part of a non- profit venture that offered the chance to rub elbows with their father during in- auguration weekend and go hunting or fishing with the sons in exchange for $1 mil- lion donations that would go to conservation chari- ties. These events are dissolv- ing as quickly as they be- come public, suggesting the family is learning on the fly what's acceptable. Trump aides say the Trump family has been fo- cused on resolving the per- ception of conflicts when it comes to Trump's business; how to handle their chari- table endeavors has been a secondary concern. But in light of recent events, the Trump team is looking more quickly for solutions, said a Trump transition offi- cial, speaking on condition of anonymity to share inter- nal discussions. Eric Trump canceled the coffee with Ivanka af- ter The New York Times re- ported that some of the bid- ders were doing so to gain insight about the Trump administration. Hope Hicks, a Trump spokeswoman, said the hunting and fishing events reflected "initial concepts that have not been ap- proved or pursued by the Trump family." She added that the sons "are not in- volved in any capacity. Ad- ditionally, the president- elect is not aware of the event or the details pertain- ing to it." The two previous presi- dents, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, expressly forbade immediate family members from such fund- raising activities to avoid the appearance of selling access. "We kept it simple. We did not allow the first fam- ily to be auctioned off, which is what is happening here," said Norman Eisen, who served as White House chief ethics counselor as Obama took office in 2009. Richard Painter, who filled a similar role for Bush, said the White House "strongly discouraged" the president, his family and top aides from fundraising for charities, and avoided altogether charity fundrais- ing that came with any ac- cess to those people. Both said that while there's nothing explicitly il- legal about the charity fun- draising, it diverges from the best practices of previ- ous White House adminis- trations. In an invitation that be- gan circulating last week when the entertainment site TMZ posted it, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were listed as honorary co-chair- men for a group seeking up to $1 million donations for a Jan. 21 inauguration event dubbed "Opening Day." Top donors will enjoy other perks such as a "pri- vate reception and photo opportunity for 16 guests with President Donald J. Trump" and "a multi-day hunting and/or fishing ex- cursion for 4 guests with Donald Trump Jr. and/or Eric Trump and team," ac- cording to the invitation. A few days before the invitation went out, the two adult Trump sons and their friends Gentry Beach and Tom Hicks Jr. regis- tered a nonprofit in Texas called "Opening Day Foun- dation." The invitation lists Beach, a Dallas hedge fund manager, and Hicks, son of a Dallas investment billion- aire, among its co-chair- men. The sons' involve- ment in the nonprofit was first reported by the Center for Public Integrity. But Eric and Donald Trump Jr. had no idea they were named in the new nonprofit and have asked the Texas secretary of state to amend the filing to de- lete them, according to the Trump transition official. Encore Live, the enter- tainment company that's organizing the event, says the invitation promising ac- cess to the president and his sons is not accurate. "We cannot confirm that the 1M dollar donors have access to a private recep- tion with President Trump. We also cannot confirm his attendance," Encore Live chief executive officer Wal- ter Kinzie told The Associ- ated Press in an email. "The hunting/fishing excursion is not confirmed and is not something we are offering to sponsors." POLITICS Trump family offers access as perk of charity contributions JOHNLOCHER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE From le , Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. wait for the second presidential debate between Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in St. Louis Oct. 9. By Sean Murphy The Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY The last few years have been grind- ingly tough for state gov- ernment in Oklahoma as plunging oil prices deci- mated tax revenues, forc- ing agencies to lay off em- ployees, shutter offices and scale back services. But you wouldn't know that by looking at the of- fice of Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who has been nominated by President- elect Donald Trump to be- come director of the En- vironmental Protection Agency. While living in the same harsh fiscal cli- mate and preaching small- government conservatism, Pruitt has managed to in- crease his office's expenses by 40 percent and add nearly 60 employees since taking over, creating a dy- namo for legal attacks on the Obama administration and a launching pad for his political career. Ambitious conservatives abound in deep-red Okla- homa, but the 48-year-old Pruitt has become known for an extraordinary talent for expanding his power and budget. This drive and ingenuity will soon be trained on a federal agency that has long been a nem- esis for the GOP's right wing. "He's known to be a fighter," said Oklahoma Re- publican Gov. Mary Fallin, whose own general coun- sel was pushed out after Pruitt made him a target over several flawed execu- tions. "He's taken stances and led the charge." And he's not worried about ap- pearances. W h i l e other agen- cies down- sized, Pruitt moved the s a t e l l i t e state of- fice near his s u b u r b a n Tulsa home into the luxuri- ous Bank of America Tower, more than tripling its rent and increasing its space to more than 10,000 square feet. A native of Kentucky who got his law degree in Tulsa, Pruitt has been attract- ing attention for his bold- ness since he knocked off a seemingly safe Republican state senator by mobilizing members of his large subur- ban church, the First Bap- tist Church of Broken Ar- row. "There are a number of people who cross your path, and I've come across a lot of them in my career in the military, politics and law, who are great self-promot- ers, and he's one of them. Maybe that's what you've got to do," said former GOP state Sen. Ged Wright, who lost the 1998 race. After making unsuccess- ful bids for Congress and lieutenant governor, Pruitt won the race for Oklahoma attorney general in 2010, and quickly began making the job bigger. A staff of 149 employ- ees in 2011 grew to 207 this year. Expenditures jumped from about $28 million to more than $37.5 million last year. "Why this particular agency seems to receive some favoritism is kind of a quandary in my mind," said outgoing Republican Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, among those mystified by Pruitt's bureaucratic audacity. Meanwhile, a state bud- get hole that grew to $1.3 billion last year — nearly 20 percent of spending — led to cuts across state agencies, including 1,200 jobs at the Department of Human Services alone since 2014. Pruitt's growth came from tapping other agen- cies' budgets and collecting more fines, fees and settle- ments. His office completely absorbed the state Human Rights Commission, which had a $500,000 budget, and took over the legal work of more than two dozen smaller boards, convinc- ing the Legislature that the consolidation was more ef- ficient. At the same time, he's raised his office's legal sights to national political targets. One innovation, a "feder- alism unit," was assigned to look for examples of over- reaching federal govern- ment. In his first year in of- fice, he filed lawsuits chal- lenging President Obama's health care law and the EPA, the first of several against the federal govern- ment. POLITICS It's a tough time in Oklahoma, except for state's attorney general Pruitt Gold Exchange 413WalnutStreet•530-528-8000 Sat.-Mon. 10am-4pm • Tues-Fri 10am-5:30pm www.redbluffgoldexchange.com ServingOurCommunityForOver22Years up to 50% OFF thru Christmas •VideoGames • DVD's Tools • Knives 40% off All Jewelry STOCKINGSTUFFERS under $10.00 P R I C E S Corning's Annual Community Resource Guide PublishDate:Tuesday,January31,2017 2017 10% OFF your ad in each section when you buy an ad in Corning 2017 & Red Bluff 2017 Corning is on the map! Put your business on the map with it! 20,000 + readership! 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