Pondering the state’s cash crunch, Bee columnist Dan Walters writes: “In fact, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's current budget is based on a wishful assumption that the feds will give the state an extra $7 billion – highly unlikely since the federal budget is in even worse shape than California's” http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/02/v-print/2720568/dan-walters-state-fiscal-plan.html The last part of this sentence is doubly wrong. The federal budget deficit was higher as a percent of gross domestic product in 1946 than it was in 2009. And the federal government can legally run budget deficits. The constitution of California requires a balanced budget. Mr. Walters is entitled to his own opinion,

The Democratic Party of Sacramento County (DPSC) voted to endorse a resolution opposing West Sacramento’s “Gang Injunction” because it permits law enforcement authorities to act without evidence of wrongdoing. The “Gang Injunction” allows West Sacramento police to arrest individuals for associating with gang members – even their family members. It also allows West Sacramento police to abuse Sacramento’s sovereignty and arrest people in Sacramento who have violated no Sacramento law. DPSC member and California Democratic Party Executive Board member, Christine Thomas said, “Wrongful prosecution, accusations, and tracking individuals in databases for the rest of their lives without providin

May’s rainstorms brought a tremendous amount of water to California, but were not enough to end the current three-year drought. Numbers released by the California Department of Water Resources show that many of the state’s reservoirs have reached near-normal levels. In Sacramento, the total rainfall to date of nearly 16 inches is about 90 percent of normal. The news isn’t all good, though. By comparison, Los Angeles has received only 62 percent of its normal rainfall. And statewide snowpack water content is hovering around 63 percent of normal. According to the California Drought Report, released in March by DWR and the California Department of Agriculture, there are significant differe