Over the years, Sacramento's central shopping district has struggled to get foot traffic beyond the 8-to-5 weekday workday.

The Assembly Committee on Public Safety made the right decision last month when it rejected Sen. Rod Wright's bill seeking to make California the second state in the nation to require a doctor's prescription to purchase over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine. But the very real problem the bill tried to address merits taking action, albeit in a different approach.
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As a Sacramento City Council member for the last 15 years and someone who has been involved in numerous labor negotiations, I commend the Sacramento city firefighters for agreeing to a new labor contract. This contract with the city results in a $10.5 million savings to the city and no layoffs of firefighters. In the short term, the city will be safer by the action taken by the council and Local 522. But you can't build a world-class city on short-term dreams.
Chinese, state workers, health care, heroism, etc.
Barack Obama spent all of 2008 running against the sputtering economy and warned earlier this year of a crisis "we may not be able to reverse." Yet, as the unemployment rate climbs beyond the administration's projections, Vice President Joe Biden informs us that the administration "misread how bad the economy was."
Citing the state's inability to close its budget deficit, Fitch, the bond rating service, downgraded California's bonds last week from A- to BBB. The downgrade could cost the state's taxpayers as much as $7.5 billion in added interest over a 30-year period.
Massive program cuts, state worker salary reductions and IOUs aren't the only consequences of California's budget stalemate. The deadlock is also preventing the state from selling bonds needed to fund initiatives that have already been approved by voters.
The latest stall in budget negotiations stems from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposing reforms to the state's welfare system. He wants reforms before signing any budget package. Democratic leaders say balance the budget first, then work on reforms.

Lincoln's legacy: Exhibit is worth a visit


Ginger Rutland visited the Lincoln exhibit at the California Museum recently. She thinks everyone should see it, especially our governor and state legislators.
Posted: Friday, July 10, 2009
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Expensive procedures that may not help in the long run should be part of the discussion - but who makes the call to deny this type of care?

The Conversation Forum

Last week's decision by the California Supreme Court upholding Proposition 8 was hailed and criticized around the country as an important development in the ongoing legal and political battle over the definition of marriage.

Around July Fourth weekend of 1933, the year that unemployment in the United States soared near 25 percent, you might have expected the columns of The Sacramento Bee to be filled with despair and hardship.

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The undercurrent in many of reports on California's budget fiasco seems to be that the self-indulgent Left Coasters are getting exactly what they deserve. And while schadenfreude is never pretty, we certainly deserve much of the scorn.

NorCal Voices blog

What are the region's residents talking about on the streets, over the backyard fence and at the water cooler? Our line-up of local residents shares the buzz from their neighborhoods, communities, cities and region. Here's what's on their minds.

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