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* Arnold talks up the state by calling Florida for “old people” and saying nobody wants to visit Iowa.
* Capitol Weekly has a profile of J. Clark Kelso, the prison receiver.
* Sen. Ron Calderon wants to start cracking down on the marijuana dispensaries.
* Ted Lieu is going anti-Toyota and buy-American after Toyota’s recent troubles. He wants legislators to buy American cars as their “pool vehicles.” Hey, the Ford Fusion Hybrid is a pretty sweet little ride.
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* A judge ruled today that the State could eliminate two paid holidays for state workers.
* Andy Pugno is running for AD-05, yes, Andy Pugno of Prop 8. He is leading the money race for all non-incumbents. He raised nearly $400,000, and kicked in another $100K personal loan. The Democratic candidate is Richard Pan.
* In the OC, Democratic Assembly candidate Phu Ngyuyen looks like he could be competitive in AD-68, where Van Tran is termed out. (And running a half-hearted campaign against Loretta Sanchez.)
* Lots of reaction in the Whitman vs. Poizner deathmatch. Yumm, popcorn!
* Is Gavin Newsom thinking of running for Lt. Governor? Matier and Ross have a poll today showing Gavin up big over Janice Hahn and Dean Florez.
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* Treasurer Bill Lockyer gave heavily to a candidate for Alameda County Board of Supervisors. The candidate? His wife, Nadia Lockyer. The race figures to be an action packed campaign, as former state Sen. Liz Figueroa is also in the race.
* More from Josh Richman: Sen Leland Yee is trying to make white pages opt-in, instead of opt-out. Those things kill a lot of trees for a product that has largely been replaced by the internet.
* The Governor appointed the first female head of the California National Guard, Mary Knight.
* Sen. Ashburn wants another round of homebuyer tax credits.
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* The half-hearted Canciamilla for Attorney General campaign has officially ended. Former Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla hadn’t campaigned, and will now try to persuade the governor to appoint him as a judge.
* Hey, Carly Fiorina is still running for Senate, too. Despite some of the attention being pulled towards Tom Campbell, she got a long article in the LA Times trying to figure her out. Ring us back if you can answer that riddle.
* Cal-PERS is now throwing open the doors for investment pitches. It’s a step in the right direction, but they still need to do some work on the policy.
* Sam Aanestad is having problems raising money for the LG’s race. If he is to drop out, Maldonado might get that statewide race he’s always wanted.
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* Surprise, Surprise, Meg Whitman is playing fast and loose with stats in her ads.
* Jerry Brown gets tough! Unfortunately, it was on Gavin Newsom, who is in fact not the likely Republican candidate for governor.
* John Eastman, the very conservative dean of the Chapman Law School, has hopped into the Republican primary for Attorney General.
* The Senate looks at the availability of parking in major cities. Increasing the price of parking is a good way to reduce driving and the associated congestion and environmental damage.
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* Can we stop calling Haim Saban a big Democratic donor now? He gave plenty to Schwarzenegger, and now he drops a max check on Meg Whitman? I think the myth is busted.
* The Senate is going to hold confirmation hearings for Abel Maldonado for Lt. Gov. At this point it isn’t clear whether there will be enough votes for this to happen. Alex Rooker made some very Rooker-esque comparisons to Massachusetts, and said that we should not confirm him. Well, let’s just say not everybody feels the same way.
* The new PPIC poll has Brown and Boxer leading over frontrunning Republicans Whitman and Campbell.
* Dennis Hollingsworth is putting campaign funds to very good use: a GOP beach retreat! Who’s up for a luau?
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* More talk about DiFi getting in the Governor’s race. Apparently, she’s quite interested in playing around with the media until the filing deadline hits in six weeks.
* Michaela Alioio-Pier is dropping out of the Insurance Commissioner race. She has been going through some health issues. We all wish her a speedy recovery.
* A Santa Clarita city councilman who calls himself a “proud racist” got some love from other proud racists. Given our country’s legacy of blood against those who are different, this is just disgusting.
* A bill limiting gifts to legislators won’t be making it to the Assembly floor, at least for now.
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* Dan Walters says that Californians are no longer Arnold fans.
* Sen. Ashburn, who is termed out this year, says that he doesn’t plan on running for anything.
* The LA County Probation Department is in a bit of disarray, with unclear management.
* Chuck DeVore still thinks he’s going to be Senator despite the fact that he’s far behind in both general and primary polls.
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* Prince Frederic von Anhalt, Duke of Saxony and husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor, is running for governor. Apparently the Germans want to succeed the Austrians. Interestingly enough, his policy platform is more progressive than anything Jerry Brown has offered so far. Isn’t that sad?
* John A. Pérez will officially become Speaker on March 1. Good to see an orderly transition is under way.
* Darrell Steinberg has introduced a bill to name the Legislative Office Building after Bill Cavala, the longtime Democratic strategist and aide to Speakers from Willie Brown to Fabian Núñez who died on December 24.
* Bill Monning (AD-27) and other state lawmakers whose district includes the coast have formed a Coastal Caucus in the legislature. I’m guessing one of their first battles will be to stop the revived Tranquillon Ridge oil drilling plan.
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* Remember the F*** You veto message to Asm. Ammiano? Well, it’s now disappeared from the Governor’s website. Convenient.
* Jerry Brown was acting governor for 48 hours when Arnold was out of the state. It turns out that with the LG spot empty, AG is next in line after the also absent legislative leaders.
* Sen. Gil Cedillo makes his Assembly bid official. Ahh, term limits, how you drive me insane.
* The unemployment rate remained steady at 12.4%. Well, better than up, I suppose.
* The LA County Democratic Party agrees with Michael Steele. –Dante Atkins