California Insider

On Sunday my column was about the state's electricity industry, and the fact that shortages and possibly blackouts are still a looming threat. Today the operators of the state's power grid declared a Stage One emergency. Here is the story.

Leave it to Arnold Schwarzenegger to make a spectacle out of a press conference to announce his selection of the California quarter. Today's ceremony was a love-fest among the governor, his wife and state Librarian Kevin Starr. Here is a PDF file containing the transcript.

No visible progress in Sunday's leadership talks on workers comp. It looks like the parties are still circling around each other, with the Democrats forcing Schwarzenegger and his allies to spend their million-plus gathering signatures and the Republican legislative leaders pondering the potential advantages of using workers comp as a political wedge come November. This could go on for another week or two before we finally know whether there will be a deal or a ballot measure fight. Here is the Bee's report on the Big Five leadership meeting Sunday.