The California Progress Report, which publishes numerous left-of-center articles daily, has a new editor: David Greenwald.
The founder of the site, Frank Russo, is now the chief of staff to freshman Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley.
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, whose personal funds helped qualify the 2003 recall for the ballot, is in line to become the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
"Right now I have the opportunity to attack the problems of government that my constituents are most concerned about. This is my opportunity to do a lot more about fixing government," Issa tells the North County TImes.
Former state Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, sent out this holiday e-card, courtesy of JibJab.
"Here is how NOT to solve the budget crisis," Battin warns.
The faux-video features Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, chief of staff Susan Kennedy, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Senate GOP leader Dave Cogdill and Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines in a snowball fight.
Speaking of Villines, the Clovis GOPer has filed paperwork to extend his stay in the Capitol -- by running for state Senate in 2014.
Villines will be termed out of the Assembly in 2010, but the Senate seat he wants to seek -- currently occupied by Cogdill -- won't be free until four years from then.
So why file the paperwork now (six years in advance)? The move could be in part to continue fundraising. If a politician does not have an open account for a future office, under California law, they can't continue to raise money for themselves.
Finally, the cast is in for Tuesday's Christmas tree lighting ceremony outside the state Capitol. Mario Lopez, he of Extra and Saved by the Bell fame, is the emcee.
Rick Springfield, he of "Jessie's Girl" fame, will be performing.
"California's the entertainment capital of the nation, if not the world. And we get... Rick Springfield" is Josh Richman at the Oakland Tribune's take on the booking. "Just another sign of dysfunction in Sacramento, I guess. (Sorry, Rick.)"
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