Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/9016
Monday, April 12, 2010 – Daily News – 7A GOP Continued from page 1A Obama’s approval rating has dropped steadily with each new reform. “When a president’s pop- ularity is in the low 40s, in a mid-year election, the other party usually takes control of one house or the other,” he said. Aanestad downplayed Obama’s victory, noting he was elected by only 52 per- cent of the population, and one the senator said was aided by the media’s desire to see the first black presi- dent elected. He defended the “Party of No” label applied to Repub- licans since the election, comparing it to stern parents turning down requests from their child. Daily News photo by Geoff Johnson From left: Congressman Rep. Wally Herger (R-Chico), State Assemblyman Jim Nielsen (R- Gerber), Tehama County Republican of 2009 C. Jerome Crow, State Sen. Sam Aanestad (R- Grass Valley), and State Senate candidate Doug LaMalfa. GOP honors C. Jerome Crow The Tehama County Republi- can of 2009 award went to C. Jerome Crow, a former writer for the Corning Observer and the Daily News who has chaired the Tehama County Republican Assembly since 2006, and who campaigned for California’s gay marriage ban and for gubernator- ial candidate Meg Whitman before becoming a field repre- sentative for State Assemblyman Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) in March. “All my life I’ve had two requirements of the people that work for me — that they be loyal, and that they be the best,” Nielsen said. Crow had been chosen for the award before he was hired by Nielsen, “so there’s no conflict of interest,” Nielsen joked. In addition his prize, Crow was awarded by Rep. Wally Herger (R-Chico) an American flag once flown over Washington D.C. “I’m not that old, and I don’t know if I deserve this, so now I sort of feel like maybe the presi- dent should have felt when they gave him the Nobel Peace Prize,” Crow said. “And like President Obama, I’m not going to give it back.” Bill would cap fees for students SACRAMENTO, (AP) — Deep budget cuts to Cal- ifornia’s public colleges and universities have caused student fees to skyrocket in recent years, but administra- tors would have to find another way to make up for declining state funding under a bill moving through the Legislature. The legislation would establish a baseline student fee for the 2011-12 academ- ic year at each of Califor- nia’s three public higher education systems — the University of California, California State University and the California Commu- nity Colleges — and would cap subsequent fee increas- es at 5 percent a year. The schools serve a combined 3.5 million students annual- ly. The measure also would require that fees remain constant throughout a stu- dent’s enrollment, so year- to-year increases would apply only to newly enrolled students. ‘‘We have to get univer- sities to realize that students and their families are not walking ATM machines,’’ said the bill’s author, Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter. ‘‘The goal is to take the erratic nature out of student fee increases so that fami- lies can budget for college and the universities get bet- ter at their own budgeting.’’ Over the past five years, state budget cuts have caused student fees to rise by 61 percent at UC, to $8,000 per year for resident undergraduates, and 68 per- cent at CSU, to $4,900 per year. Fees at the state’s 110 community colleges dropped during that period but shot up 30 percent this year. Those increases have prompted protests at the Capitol and on campuses throughout the state in recent months. LOS ANGELES (AP) — ‘‘Designing Women’’ star Dixie Carter, whose Southern charm and natural beauty won her a host of television roles, has died at age 70. Carter died Saturday morning, according to pub- licist Steve Rohr, who repre- sents Carter and her hus- band, actor Hal Holbrook. He declined to disclose the cause of death or where she died. Carter lived with Hol- UC and CSU officials have objected to Florez’s bill, which will be the sub- ject of a Senate Education Committee hearing on Wednesday. In a letter to the commit- tee, UC administrators said they could not realistically commit to the proposed fee restrictions without a guar- antee of continued state funding. ‘‘This would present an untenable situation for the university and strike at the heart of a quality education for which the University of California is known,’’ the letter said. By prohibiting fee increases for current stu- dents, the bill would place a disproportionate financial burden on incoming stu- dents, said Erik Fallis, a spokesman for the CSU chancellor’s office. Florez said he agreed the Legislature should establish a minimum level of guaran- teed funding to higher edu- cation and hopes his bill will lead to a productive dia- logue between lawmakers and university leaders. ‘‘There’s a shared blame for the situation we’re in, and I think this finally forces the discussion we need to have,’’ he said. In January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to preserve higher education funding at least at its current level. He also proposed a con- stitutional amendment guar- anteeing that at least 10 per- cent of general fund spend- ing would go toward UC and CSU. This year, fund- ing to the two systems dropped to 7.5 percent of the general fund. The governor has until June 24 to qualify his pro- posal for the November bal- lot. Under other bills sched- uled for hearings this week: — It would be a crime brook in the Los Angeles area. ‘‘This has been a terrible blow to our family,’’ Hol- brook said in a written state- ment. ‘‘We would appreci- ate everyone understanding that this is a private family tragedy.’’ A native of Tennessee, Carter was most famous for playing wisecracking Southerner Julia Sugarbaker for seven years on ‘‘Design- ing Women,’’ the CBS sit- for a person to carry weapons onto a city bus, light rail system or other public transit vehicle under legislation before the Public Safety Committee on Tues- day. State law currently allows people who have a concealed-weapons permit to carry a gun onto a public transit system, while people without such permits are allowed to carry unloaded guns in public if the weapon is licensed. The bill by Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, would make it a misdemeanor to bring an array of weapons onto a public transit system. That includes unloaded guns. The banned weapons would include any firearms, BB or pellet guns, hand grenades or replica hand grenades, and certain knives. Those weapons also would be pro- hibited at public transit facilities. The only exemption in the bill for those with con- cealed-weapons permits relates to retired peace offi- cers. Violations would be punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and a sentence of up to one year in county jail. — It would be more dif- ficult for retiring public employees to pad their pen- sions under a bill by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto. The bill set for a Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee hearing Monday would pro- hibit pension boards from using last-minute promo- tions, bonuses and vacation time to inflate retirees’ pay- outs, a practice known as ‘‘pension spiking.’’ — California would ban caffeinated malt beverages. Bill writers warn that the caffeine boost can cause drinkers, especially young people, to misjudge their blood alcohol levels. They also said the combination of stimulants and depressants com that ran from 1986 to 1993. The series was the peak of a career in which she often played wealthy and self-important but inde- pendent Southern women. She was nominated for an Emmy in 2007 for her seven-episode guest stint on the ABC hit ‘‘Desperate Housewives.’’ Carter’s other credits include roles on the series ‘‘Family Law’’ and ‘‘Dif- f’rent Strokes.’’ can cause strain on the heart and nervous system. The bill will be heard Monday in the Assembly Governmen- tal Organization Commit- tee. — Farmers would be banned from applying most pesticides to fields and orchards that lie within a quarter a mile to half mile of a school under legislation by Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Alameda. The bill would apply to pesti- cides used for commercial agriculture and pest control, although certain organic pesticides and chemicals used for mosquito control would be exempt. The bill will be discussed Wednes- day before the Assembly Agriculture Committee. — Ballot initiatives affecting the state budget would have a 15-year expi- ration date under a reform proposal before the Senate Budget Committee on Monday. If approved by voters, the constitutional amendment by Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, would let a majority of the Legislature extend expiring initiatives by another 15 years if lawmakers decide the ballot measure is achiev- ing its objectives and is cost-effective. — Teenagers looking for a lunchtime electrolyte boost would be out of luck under a bill before the Sen- ate Health Committee on Thursday. The measure by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, would ban the sale of sugar-sweetened sports drinks in public middle schools and high schools during school hours. The state already bans the drinks in elementary schools, while sodas have been absent from school vending machines since 2007. The bill has the backing of the governor as part of a statewide push to target childhood obesity. ’Designing Women’ star Dixie Carter dies at 70 She married Holbrook in 1984. The two had met four years earlier while making the TV movie ‘‘The Killing of Randy Webster,’’ and although attracted to one another, each had suffered two failed marriages and were wary at first. They finally wed two years before Carter landed her role on ‘‘Designing Women.’’ Holbrook appeared on the show regu- larly in the late 1980s. Independently owned Telephone: (530) 824-3792 He closed by comparing his Republican primary opponent, fellow State Sena- tor Abel Moldanado (R- Santa Maria) to Democratic candidate and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, claiming the two were inter- changeable. “It’s a pretty black and white choice, in my race,” he said. As for the future of the party, he circled back to the 1982 dance hit “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sis- ters, a song whose lyrics he peppered throughout the speech. “I’m so excited,” he said. “And I just can’t hide it.” ——— Geoff Johnson can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or gjohnson@redbluffdailynew s.com. Lacking state funding, Census response rates lag OAKLAND (AP) — State and local governments ham- mered by the recession have cut spending on outreach for the 2010 U.S. Census, leaving hard-to-reach neighborhoods with response rates that may fall behind the count a decade ago, officials said. The funding cutbacks have come at all levels, and at a cost. California, for example, dedicated $24.7 million to the Census 2000 campaign. Although an undercount could cost the state billions in federal funding and a Congressional seat, this year’s outreach budget is only $2 million. Two weeks into the count, the state’s census form return rates are about 10 percent behind the 2000 total, officials said, adding that the numerical disparity would be worse without the efforts of philanthropic and community-based organizations. ‘‘We need to make a push to make sure we at least stay even,’’ said Louis Stewart, deputy director of California’s census outreach. ‘‘There is a lot riding on this count.’’ More than $435 billion a year is distributed by the fed- eral government to states based on census-driven funding formulas. California could lose about $3,000 a year for each resident not counted in the 2010 census. The 2000 census found 33.9 million people in the state. It is estimated that the population will exceed 38 million in 2010. Residents have until April 19 to mail back their census forms. After that, their answers will have to be collected by census workers going door to door at considerable expense. Alameda County has one of the state’s hardest to count populations because of its diversity, its pockets of poverty, and the language barriers faced by its varied immigrant groups. But this year, Stewart said, there is only $50,000 for outreach there, compared with about $250,000 in 2000. Oakland went from hiring additional people for the cen- sus effort in 2000 to not having any money set aside at all for this year. City employees are taking on the task instead. The city’s response rate as of April 8 was 57 percent, compared with the 2000 total of 65 percent. Local governments need every census-based federal dol- lar their residents are entitled to receive, Oakland city offi- cials said at a Friday rally. ‘‘Millions of dollars that would go elsewhere could go instead to Oakland,’’ said city council member Ignacio de la Fuente, alternating English and Spanish. He asked residents to think of the future of their children, of the money that could go to their schooling and health, and to fill in their census forms. Cities and counties across the country have been forced to shed staff to keep their budgets in the black. But when it comes to allocating funding for census outreach, they should be thinking long-term, said Census spokesman Sonny Le. ‘‘The census count is going to last for 10 years,’’ he said. ‘‘So you’re talking about shortsightedness.’’ The response rates haven’t fallen even lower thanks, in part, to the work philanthropic foundations and communi- ty-based organizations have done in filling the outreach gap. This census has seen unprecedented commitment on the part of the philanthropic community, which dedicated about $15 million to promotion efforts, said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former staff director of the House Census oversight sub- committee who also advised President Barack Obama’s transition team on the census. Much of the funding went to hard-to-count areas and the community organizations serving them. ‘‘It’s making a huge difference,’’ Lowenthal said, adding that some areas deemed hard-to-count by the Census Bureau have seen response rates exceed expectation and exceed the national average because of this collaboration. Over 50 years of serving Tehama County