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* Dan Lungren got busted for speeding while doing an interview on the radio this morning.

* Jerry Brown announced some plans for education and the environment on his website, but apparently nobody was paying attention.  I guess you have to put out a 40 page glossy magazine to a million people to get any attention these days.

* Mark Leno appeared on CNBC to talk about cell phone radiation. The cell phone industry group (CTIA) has been fighting point of purchase disclosure for some time now.  Apparently the truth won’t set you free at your local Radio Shack.

* The Federal government blocked the sale of EdFund. So much for another budget gimmick.

* Some of the gaming tribes are among the first to use the Citizens United loopholes.  They used some of their cash to support Jeff Denham’s Congressional bid.

* Arnold: Well…maybe we can pass a budget this year.

* The Bay Area Council slams a group of Peninsula cities for obstructing the high speed rail project.

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* A while back, we reported that Mimi Walters seemed to be running for Governor, or at least her website thought so.  It seems that somebody reads Calitics, and the website has now been corrected.

* A group of small parties and other interests have sued to block implementation of the Top-2 primary system that we just approved in June.

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* The California Republican has some very interesting twitter interests.  If you think porn stars are interesting anyway.

* Carly Fiorina got some new Latino support. Or well, maybe it’s Latino support, because just exactly where the money is coming is entirely unclear. Carla Marinucci points out that one of the headliners of the campaign was a grand marshall at the 2008 SF Pride parade … should go down perfectly with the right-wingers.

* Boaters near the San Francisco area are being warned about being careful near whales. A huge krill explosion in the area is attacting large numbers of humpback whales.  A young humpback was found dead today, killed by the propellors of a boat.

* In San Francisco, City Attorney Dennis Herrera is appealing a judge’s decision to grant an extra term to appointed supervisors. Tim Redmond of the SF Bay Guardian agrees with the decision.

* The corpse of Howard Jarvis has filed suit to get the language changed on Prop 23. Apparently the word “laws” will make everybody think that we won’t regulate air pollution at all. Huh?

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* Looks like there will be three debates between Whitman and Brown.  Brown had previously accepted ten invites, but Whitman was looking for a little less airtime.

* The Democratic nominee (well, sorta) to replace Sen. Dean Florez in the Senate, has dropped some campaign bucks on a radio ad blasting Prop 19. There are even some cute cliches in there and everything. But, make no mistake, it’s still a campaign ad for his senate campaign. (MP3 here)

* The LA Times is following up on the stories about Bell. First, there’s the story about how the City was cutting services while giving top staff big increases, and then the news that the city council cut their salaries down to $673/month, a 90% cut.  

* Guess who is giving money to both Carly Fiorina and Prop 23 (kill AB32)?  Why, it’s the coal interests, of course.  I mean, why not, Barbara Boxer is always worrying about the “weather”.

* Marisa Lagos outlines the battle over funding municipalities and counties and Prop 22.

Back to the links:

* Apparently news that Darrell Steinberg is changing consultants for the Anna Caballero contest is huuuuuge. Only in Sacramento would this be worthy of blasting to an email list.  Caballero is running to replace Sen. Jeff Denham.

* Don Perata drops some cash on Jerry Brown.

* Tom Steyer, a San Francisco based venture capitalist, dropped five million bucks on No on Prop 23, the measure to repeal our greenhouse gas pollution law.

* AG Jerry Brown dropped some subpoenaes in his investigation of the City of Bell’s finances.

* George Skelton: Prop 25 (Majority vote budget) is the real deal.

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* The SD-40 recount between Mary Salas and Juan Vargas has begun. We will provide further information with the vote changes.

* United Farm Workers members held a pray-in at Arnold’s office to convince him to sign a law granting overtime pay to farm workers

* It seems the CDP wasn’t the only party with issues on its hand concerning Prop 19 (marijuana). The California Republican Party’s “Liberty Caucus” endorsed the measure.

* This is a bit old, and a bit off-topic, but worth reading: Marc Cooper looks back at the train wreck that is Pajamas Media.

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* Peter Schrag wonders when the current Governor and the wannabes are going to pay attention to education.  He is simply dead-on. Our leaders have failed our eduction system, and all Arnold has to say about is that we need to get rid of the Sup. of Public Instruction? Nothing about his administration totally ignoring its own report calling out the failures of the system. If you have time to only read one California blog post today, this is the one.

* George Skelton wants to trade pension reform for majority vote budget. Joel Fox thinks Prop 25 is too friendly to increased spending (shock!).

* Ronald Reagan Day is a go. Wear a red ribbon.

* The FPPC is going to look at “issue” ads that are more specific as to what you should do about the issue. Under the previous guidelines, the standard for issues ads were broad and required little disclosure.

* The New York Times looks at the divide over Prop 19 (marijuana) in the African-American community.

Hey, it’s the Ides of July, and the CDP E-board is coming up tomorrow! What could be better? Let’s get to the links:

* SF Assessor/Recorder Phil Ting is holding an Oakland town-hall to discussing the split roll. The move would take commercial property off the Prop 13 system and allow them to be taxed at their current valuations. The idea is very much in the nascent planning stages, but why not head out to Laney College and talk about it on Tuesday, July 27.

* The SacBee AdWatch finds Meg Whitman’s latest attack ad to be either deceptive or outright wrong.

* The delay of the water bond is going to get wrapped up in all of the other legislative fights.

* CalBuzz wonders why Obama isn’t embracing his inner Omar.  

* There will be money to protect AB 32 by defeating Prop 23.

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* Senate Leaders Steinberg and Hollingsworth are doing some side discussions on the budget.

* CalBuzz points out that DiFi has alwasy been anti-fun

* Juan Vargas hasn’t exactly won yet, but the LA Times looks at who gets credit for the win.

* The Nurses and the Queen are having quite the battle.

* Bill Lockyer says Wall Street is skeptical of high speed rail. Wall Street is ignorant of HSR’s global success but they’re ignorant of many things. Still, maybe we don’t need Wall Street at all, since China is interested in funding California HSR.

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* Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) passed away today. Best wishes to his family and friends.

* A new initiative has been qualified to gather signatures: a constitutional amendment to ban divorce. Wow, that would be something…

* Meg Whitman “invested” a million bucks in Mike Murphy’s TV/movie production studio. Kind of funny that she threw her money down that hole. It’s not clear if the move brings up any campaign finance improprieties, but it does show how stinking, filthy rich she is.

*  John King marvels at the new Bay Bridge span, but wonders about priorities. Of course, digging up the wrangling of the Bay Bridge tears at old wounds, but the fact that we will have a statement bridge will be a big positive for the Bay Area, especially for the East Bay and Oakland.

* Are you a member of CalPERS? Did you know you own a big chunk of BP? Yup, that BP.  Oh, and the pension fund lost over a billion dollars on the supposed “blue-chip” stock.