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The Supreme Court and the campaign

The U.S. Supreme Court issued two rulings on constitutional rights on Thursday. Most of our attention has been focused on its gun control ruling. The court tossed out a Washington, D.C. law that effectively bans handguns. In its first Second Amendment ruling in nearly 70 years, a sharply divided court [...]

By | June 26th, 2008|0 Comments

A lefty in the White House

Whether it's Barack Obama or John McCain, one thing we can say for sure is a lefty will succeed President Bush. No, I'm not talking politics here. Obama and McCain are both left-handed, as Russell Berman points out this week in the New York Sun. And, as a lot of [...]

By | June 24th, 2008|0 Comments

Results of latest PD poll

On the Sunday editorial page (Page B8), we will be reporting on our latest Press Democrat Editorial Department online survey. But here's a sneak peak at some of the results:52 percent of respondents say that high fuel costs and/or the slow economy have caused them to adjust their vacation plans [...]

By | June 20th, 2008|0 Comments

State halts aerial spraying for moth, but what’s next?

Amid a lawsuit and growing pressure from state lawmakers, California Secretary of Food and Agriculture A.G. Kawamura announced today that the state has halted all plans for aerial pesticide spraying as a way to fight the light brown apple moth in urbanized parts of the state. Instead, state and federal [...]

By | June 19th, 2008|0 Comments

Ministers cope with same-sex marriage

A Santa Rosa minister describes in today's New York Times the conflicts she faces in dealing with same-sex marriage. The Rev. Kimberly A. Willis said about 10 percent of her congregation at Christ Church United Methodist is gay. But she could be defrocked by her church if she officiates at [...]

By | June 18th, 2008|0 Comments

McCain concedes California

There's some kabuki theater to presidential politics. For that past 20 years, the rituals have included Republican claims that California would be a battleground state. It creates a little news during the summer and gives a little hope to the state GOP, especially candidates in the handful of potentially competitive [...]

By | June 17th, 2008|0 Comments

Shocked, shocked to find conflicts of interest in the U.S. Senate

I hate it when politics sullies the memory of a favorite film but I couldn't help thinking this weekend about Claude Rains in "Casablanca" being "shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in here" and then leaving with his winnings. What's that have to do with politics? Well, this time [...]

By | June 16th, 2008|0 Comments

Caution: Long, complicated ballot ahead in fall

It's hard to find fault with the Santa Rosa City Council's decision Tuesday night to wait until November to fill the vacancy being created by the resignation of the city's ailing mayor Bob Blanchard. Considering that the election is less than five months away and given the complications last year [...]

By | June 11th, 2008|0 Comments

A pay cut for politicians?

Update: The commission voted 4-1 on Tuesday to freeze the salaries for a year after rejecting a pay cut on a 3-2 vote. The state commission charged with setting salaries for the governor, members of the Legislature and other state elected officials meets today in Sacramento.One of the proposals on [...]

By | June 10th, 2008|0 Comments

Will gay marriage become a presidential campaign issue?

In case you missed this, an initiative barring same-sex marriage qualifiedthis week for the Nov. 4 ballot.Petitions to qualify the proposed amendment to the constitution already hadbeen turned in to voter registrars around the state when the state SupremeCourt invalidated a law that said only marriages between aman and a [...]

By | June 4th, 2008|0 Comments