State Releases 2012 High School Exit Exam Results

California High School Exit Exam Results Show Continued Growth

95 percent of Students Meet Graduation Requirement

LOS ANGELES—The percentage of students from the Class of 2012 meeting the California High School Exit Examination graduation requirement increased slightly over last year to 95 percent, marking the sixth straight year of improving performance, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.    Read more »

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California Seeks to Excise the “R-Word” — Sort Of

“Mentally retarded’ is supposed to be eliminated from all California laws and replaced with “intellectual disability” under a measure unanimously passed by the Senate August 21.

That’s what supporters say the bill does.

“Our state should not use outdated terms that spread negative stereotypes,” said Sen. Tony Strickland, a Thousand Oaks Republican who shepherded the measure through the Senate.    Read more »

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A “Confidential” Letter from GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney

Recently — on a Monday according to the letter below — Mitt Romney sent a letter stamped in 36 point, all-caps red ink:

“CONFIDENTIAL” 

Despite the warning, the contents seemed very similar to what he has been saying in very public campaign appearances all over the country for any number of months.     Read more »

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Charities Clash over Unattended Collection Bins

A bill awaiting action August 20 on the Senate floor would restrict the placement of unattended donation boxes on private property.

Sponsored by several Northern California chapters of Goodwill Industries, the measure stalled August 13 but won reconsideration. 

AB 1978 by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, a Tracy Democrat, would require written permission by a property owner or their designee before one of the large, usually metal containers can be placed on a site.    Read more »

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Employment Up in June, Revenues Down in July, Brown Administration Says

State tax collections for the first month of the fiscal year that began July 1 are $376 million below forecast for the month, the state Department of Finance Bulletin for August said August 17.

The bulletin said that of the $376 million shortfall, $197 million is revenue that arrived later than expected and will be counted in the next few months.     Read more »

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Facebook’s Fall Takes Toll on State Revenue

On August 17, Facebook shares closed at $19.05.

Projections by Gov. Jerry Brown’s Department of Finance upon which the current state budget is premised say in November Facebook stock will trade at $35. The Legislative Analyst’s estimate is $45.

If those predictions are true then the state will pocket $1.2 billion, the Department of Finance says, and $2.1 billion by the analyst’s reckoning.    Read more »

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Happy Birthday Gary Larson!

Born in Tacoma Washington in 1950, Gary Larson vacationed in San Francisco in 1979 and showed his portfolio of cartoons to the San Francisco Chronicle. The visionary editors were captivated and not only wanted to run his single-panel creations in the Chronicle but syndicate them as well.

They weren’t thrilled with the title, though.    Read more »

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Will The Governor Nip “Absentee Florists” in the Bud?

An almost perennial effort to prevent florists from misrepresenting the location of their business was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown by the state Senate August  13.

The bill is the fifth such measure in 13 years to prevent call centers, potentially located hundreds or thousands of miles away, from using a local city or neighborhood in their name and duping consumers into believing they are patronizing a “local” florist.    Read more »

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Controller Says Revenue Nearly $500 Million Below Estimates for First Month of New Fiscal Year

SACRAMENTO – Total revenues were $475 million below projections contained in the budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, said State Controller John Chiang on August 13 in his monthly report covering California’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements in July 2012.

“Revenue collections were disappointing for the month of July,” said Chiang.    Read more »

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Happy Belated Birthday Governor Stoneman!

George Stoneman was a Civil War general and cavalry commander, who enjoyed national celebrity before being elected California’s 15th governor in 1882.

The highest-ranking Union officer captured by the Confederates, Stoneman is immortalized in The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

Levon Helm sings:

“Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train, ‘til Stoneman’s cavalry came and they tore up the tracks again….”    Read more »

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