Happy Belated Birthday, Governor Bartlett!

Washington Bartlett, California’s 16th governor, served just over eight months. Born on Leap Year Day 1824, he was the nation’s first elected Jewish governor and California’s first chief executive to die in office.

Bartlett, 63 when he died of a kidney ailment, was also the 20th mayor of San Francisco.

The distinguished looking politician with his white hair and beard was born in Augusta Georgia and came to San Francisco, around Cape Horn on the Othello, in 1849.    Read more »

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A Pretty Steep Price Tag for Wine Tasting

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Happy Belated Birthday Governor Weller!

John B. Weller, California’s 5th governor who used his clemency powers more than any two-year chief executive and whose pro-South leanings led him to sign legislation allowing Southern California to become the territory of Colorado was born 200 years ago on February 22.

He forcibly took control of San Quentin from the outside vendor hired to operate it and presided over the Mendocino War, authorizing a private 40-man army to quell attacks on settlers in Round Valley by the Yuki Indians.    Read more »

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Leap-Year Day Summit Conference in Anaheim

 

All parties involved, conclude the following:

You can outfox some of the people all the time. And you can outfox all of the people some of the time. But you can’t outfox all of the people all of the time. 

And, as often happens:

The nose had it. 

-30-

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Legislative Analyst Cautions Lawmakers About the State’s Economy and Revenue Collections

The conclusion of the anaylst’s Economic and Revenue Update released February 27:

“Economic data currently is providing plenty of mixed signals to California’s policymakers, as they continue to craft state and local budgets in a constrained fiscal environment. California’s economy now is clearly improving in many important ways, including employment growth.    Read more »

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What Was Wrong with Washington?

CHAPTER XCII.

AN ACT

To change and fix the County Seat of the County of Yolo.

[Approved March 25, 1857.]

The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows ;

Section 1. That from and after the first day of June, A. D. eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, the county seat of said County of Yolo, shall be, and is hereby changed from the town of Washington, (the present county seat of said county,) to a place on Cache Creek, in said county, heretofore, and now known as ” Hutton’s,” but which shall be known and thereafter called by the name of Cacheville; and said Cacheville is hereby declared to be the county seat of said County of Yolo, from and after the first day of June, aforesaid.    Read more »

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Hundreds of Bills Introduced Before Final Deadline

The deadline for introducing new bills for 2012, the final year of the legislative session was February 24.

On February 23, 392 bills were introduced. More will be logged from the 24th.

The most recent available batch of 392 brings the 80-member Assembly to 2,210 pieces of legislation since the session started in December 2010.    Read more »

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What’s a President Worth? Time Magazine Has the Answer

A recent article in the February 20 edition of Time examines what role a presidential candidate’s economic status plays with voters.

Included in the magazine is an infographic showing the wealth of America’s 44 presidents in 2010 dollars.

Using that yardstick, the father of the country – whose birthday was February 22 — was worth $525 million.    Read more »

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Mobile App Providers Agree to Tighten Privacy Rules, Increase Disclosure to Consumers

Apple, Google, Amazon and other companies representing 95 percent of the platforms for downloading mobile applications have agreed to boost privacy protections on the 1 million apps they provide to consumers around the world.

The agreement was announced February 22 by California Attorney General Kamala Harris who hailed it as a boon to consumers who will now know what information from their phones or pads an app will or won’t share with third parties.    Read more »

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The Economic Benefits of Same Sex Marriages — Down Under and, Potentially, Here at Home

Opening Marriage to Same-sex Couples in Australia Will Boost the State and Local Economy by $161 million:  Tasmania’s economy could see a $96 million boost if it becomes the first Australian state to allow same-sex couples to marry.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA – Extending marriage to Australian same-sex couples would boost the country’s economy by $161 million over three years, according to a new report published by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.    Read more »

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