Free Republic

California will be the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants and bakeries under legislation signed today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The measure requires restaurants to quit using trans fats by January 2010, and for bakeries to follow suit one year later. "Consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease, and today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California," Schwarzenegger said in a written statement. The legislation, Assembly Bill 97, was proposed by Democratic Assemblyman Tony Mendoza of Artesia and opposed by most Republicans. Trans fats, also known as trans fatty acids,...

We may not be getting effective governance from movie star-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, but we can count on a steady diet of grandiose, and usually hollow, political gestures. Who could forget, for instance, the time that Schwarzenegger posed with a gigantic faucet, out of which flowed a red liquid, to dramatize budget deficits? Or the time he denounced the Legislature as "girlie men" for delaying budget action? Having promised and utterly failed to end "crazy deficit spending," Schwarzenegger is resorting once again to cheesy stunts, this time a threat to reduce the salaries of tens of thousands of state employees to...

State workers chanted Thursday outside the Capitol to assail Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans to pay 200,000 state employees the federal minimum wage until a budget is signed, providing some of the most compelling budget-related scenes of angry Californians this year. It may have been what the governor wanted all along, even if they shouted his name in disgust. The governor's draft executive order to withhold a portion of state workers' pay, obtained Wednesday by The Bee, has generated public attention for the state's budget situation in a way that months of Schwarzenegger town halls never could. Whether Schwarzenegger's attempt to...

An indignant Don Perata made fun of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his brigade of "13 armed escorts" today. The Senate president pro tem was mocking Schwarzenegger as out of touch with the average Californian at a rally protesting the plan to temporarily slash the pay of state workers to $6.55 an hour. Visibly fired up, the Oakland Democrat declared he had only one question for Schwarzenegger now that the governor had revealed his plan to conserve cash during the budget crunch by cutting workers' pay. "Who in the hell do you think does the work around here?" he shouted to...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is planning to cut the pay of about 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour until a budget is signed, according to a draft of the governor's order obtained by The Times. Administration officials said Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the order early next week as part of an effort to avert a cash crisis. The controversial move, likely to be challenged in court by public-employee unions, would save the state about $1 billion a month, the officials said. Workers would be repaid their lost earnings once a budget was in place....

California, six other Western states and four Canadian provinces will launch a market-based carbon trading system in a major North American effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, according to a draft proposal released today. When it officially begins in four years, the program would first target heavy polluters such as electric utilities, oil refineries and large industrial and commercial facilities, which would be required to begin reporting emission levels beginning in 2011 to allow participating governments to agree on the maximum level of emissions for the region. The plan also includes an offsets system, part of...

What has changed since Golden State voters ousted Gov. Gray Davis and cast their lot with Arnold Schwarzenegger's star power? Not much -- except for $41 billion in new spending, says Investor's Business Daily (IBD). At a point when most state lawmakers and chief executives have put their budgets to bed, neatly balanced, and taken off for some R&R, the Legislature and governor of California are still wrangling over a budget that is roughly $15 billion out of balance. This is nothing new. We've been hearing about these budget gaps, delays and political standoffs since before the current governor took...

California: What has changed since Golden State voters ousted Gray Davis and cast their lot with Arnold Schwarzenegger's star power? Not much — except for $41 billion in new spending.What's big, blue and red all over? The great, Democrat-dominated and profligate state government of California. At a point when most state lawmakers and chief executives have put their budgets to bed, neatly balanced, and taken off for some R&R, the Legislature and governor of California are still wrangling over a budget that is roughly $15 billion out of balance. This is nothing new. We've been hearing about these budget gaps,...

California Proposes Sales Tax Hike To Fund Transport, Government Services July 18, 2008 11:32 a.m. ESTVittorio Hernandez - AHN News WriterSacramento, CA (AHN) - To close California's $17.2 billion budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger considered on Thursday hiking the state sales tax and using funds intended for transportation and government services.State legislators proposed the two measures, which the governor initially described as bad ideas, but he did not rule out adopting the measures to avoid a cash crisis in California.The lawmakers plan to close the budget gap by collecting $5.6 billion income tax increase on the rich and borrowing $1.1...

Today the President and First Lady attended Tony Snow's funeral, the President made a wonderful speech about how special Tony was and I have chosen these words to be the quote of the day as the content does much in putting things into perspective. We may get tied up on the minutiae of life but Tony Snow showed where our priorities should be never compromising his beliefs but always bearing in mind what was important and treating the rest with good humour and a smile. After attending the funeral the President travelled to California to view some of the damaged...

Frustrated that the state has no budget more than two weeks into the fiscal year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he may insist that legislative leaders begin marathon negotiating sessions until they secure a deal. "It is almost like there is no emergency there," Schwarzenegger told The Bee in an interview. "At one point or the other, you have to say, like they do with labor negotiations, 'let us sit in the room and not leave the room until it's done.' We have done that in the past, we have sat here until three in the morning. Eventually, I'm going...

California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) called drilling for more oil “too simple a solution.” “If we make fuel cheaper again, people won’t have to give up their bad habits,” Schwarzenegger claimed. “Besides, many important people own beach-front property in California. Even the slightest threat to the value of these properties would be intolerable. This is especially so if the reason is to postpone a much needed change in the way ordinary people live and travel.” The Governor proposed, instead, that California voters approve a $10 billion bond as a “down payment” on a $40 billion plan to construct high-speed passenger...

Noted scientist, Arnold Schwarzenegger, cast his eye over the political landscape and wagged his finger at the Bush administration. Schwarzenegger, governor of California, said the decision to delay a decision on regulations affecting greenhouse gases showed it did not believe in global warming. The Bush Administration's refusal to guzzle some of Arnold's global warming Kool-Aid upset the Left Coast governor. The Last Action Hero decided a lecture was the solution. Schwartzenegger might not have realized he was also lecturing a majority of Americans for being nonbelievers. According to Pew Research Center: Americans generally agree that the earth is getting warmer,...

WASHINGTON – Fearing environmental damage to the state's coastline, California's top leaders made it clear Monday that they want nothing to do with President Bush's plan to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling. Bush said his approach would reduce pressure on record gasoline prices, and he urged Congress to follow his lead. "Failure to act is unacceptable," Bush said. But as soon as the president made the announcement in a Rose Garden ceremony, California's Democratic leaders accused Bush of cozying up to oil interests. They said his plan would do nothing to lower gasoline prices. "Once again, the oilman in...

Political flip-floppers have a fan: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In that vein, Schwarzenegger advised Republican presidential candidate John McCain to move from the right to the center for the general election _ and suggested his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, move to the center from the left. "Flip-flopping is getting a bad rap, because I think it is great," Schwarzenegger told ABC's "This Week" in an interview broadcast Sunday. "Someone has made a mistake. I mean, someone has, for 20 or 30 years, been in the wrong place with his idea and with his ideology and says, 'You know something? I...

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he'd say yes if Barack Obama is elected president and offers him a position in his administration. "I'm always ready to help in any way I can the United States," Schwarzenegger said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "Because as you know, I've committed myself to be a public servant, because this country has given me everything. And so this is my time now." Schwarzenegger has endorsed fellow Republican John McCain for president, but he said he'd "take [Obama's] call now and I'd take his call when he's president, anytime. Remember, no matter who is president,...

Last March, we received word that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was offsetting his jet travel demands by purchasing green credits. The cost of Schwarzenegger’s travel was to be “annually invested” in sustainable forest management projects. At that time, it was reported that the Governor was flying twice-weekly from his office in Sacramento, CA to his mansion in Brentwood, CA. We firmly believed then that the offsetting was, at best, a band-aid for a habit that in one hour would do more damage to the environment than a small car could inflict over the course of one year. Now, the LA Times...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Sunday the Bush administration did not believe it should do anything about global warming and that any last-minute action before leaving office would be "bogus." Schwarzenegger, a Republican whose state has pushed unsuccessfully for federal permission to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, said on ABC's "This Week" that any move at this point against climate change would lack sincerity. "If they would have done something this year, I would have thought it was bogus anyway," he said. "You don't really have an effect by doing something six months before you...

The Talk Shows Sunday, July 13th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Tribute to Tony Snow with guests including Vice President Dick Cheney and commentator Rush Limbaugh.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Carly Fiorina, adviser to John McCain; Sen. Claire Mccaskill, D-Mo.; Republican strategist Mike Murphy; Harold Ford Jr., chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor; Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind. THIS WEEK (ABC): Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Govs. Mark...

Schwarzenegger: I'd be Obama energy czar By MIKE ALLEN | 7/13/08 10:23 AM EST California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in an interview aired Sunday that he would be open to the idea of serving as energy czar in a Barack Obama administration. Regardless of whether he takes that particular job, Schwarzenegger, a Republican, added on ABC’s “This Week” that he’s now committed to continuing public service even after he leaves Sacramento. Schwarzenegger endorsed John McCain at the end of January, and McCain has appeared with “the Governator” to praise his efforts to deal with climate change. A Schwarzenegger appointment would...

State Controller John Chiang delivered more grim evidence of the state's budget meltdown Thursday. Chiang's office released cash figures showing that California overspent by $3.9 billion in the fiscal year just ended. General fund expenditures for the 2007-08 fiscal year that ended June 30 totaled $107.3 billion, while total receipts were $103.4 billion. Receipts would have been even lower had the governor and Legislature not borrowed $3.3 billion earlier this year. "Without counting bond proceeds, the gap between last year's revenues and expenditures was more than $7 billion," Chiang said in a statement. "Without a spending plan in place, the...

ABC News' Mary Bruce Reports: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., spoke out against President Bush this morning attacking his administration for its failure to counter global warming emissions. "This administration did not believe in global warming," Schwarzenegger told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview that will air Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "They just didn't believe in it or they didn't believe that they should do anything about it, since China is not doing anything about it and since India is not willing to do the same thing, so why should we do the same thing?" Schwarzenegger said. "We...

SACRAMENTO – With scattered rationing punishing cities and farms statewide, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein Thursday jointly unveiled a $9.3 billion water bond proposal, convinced that fears over prolonged shortages and environmental collapse in the vital Sacramento delta will be enough to overcome resistance to building dams and a north-to-south delivery canal. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Feinstein, a Democrat, plan to aggressively push lawmakers to approve taking the bond measure to voters in November. The plan still faces tough odds. The ballot is already crowded with controversial initiatives addressing same-sex marriage, abortions for minors and caged farm...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has placed his support behind a costly high-speed rail system in California. Schwarzenegger told NBC11 he wants California to lead the way in transporting commuters across the state at near-record speeds while reducing global warming at the same time. Critics have said the state's proposed high-speed rail system is too costly and too good to be true, NBC11's Mike Luery reported. On the very spot where the Transcontinental Railroad was established nearly 140 years ago, Schwarzenegger told Luery that a less-than-three-hour trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles represents the type of progress that...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he is "open-minded" about $8.2 billion in tax increases proposed by Democrats to help resolve a $15.2 billion budget shortfall this year. The Republican governor said he has "always been against tax increases," but he shied away Wednesday from criticizing the latest Democratic package, which heavily depends on tax hikes on wealthy Californians and businesses.

Former South Bay lawmaker considers run at governorship SACRAMENTO - Former South Bay Republican congressman Tom Campbell - a fiscal conservative, social moderate and respected academic who twice before unsuccessfully sought statewide office, is eyeing a possible run in 2010 to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Campbell, 55, filed papers last week to form an "exploratory committee" for governor, which allows him to begin raising money for a potential bid. He joins two other GOP moderates from Silicon Valley - state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former eBay chief Meg Whitman - among Republicans who have expressed interest in running. On...

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER'S lack of leadership is stunning. The state is facing a $15.2 billion budget shortfall. We have entered yet another fiscal year without a spending plan in place. And, although six months ago Schwarzenegger proposed a 2008-09 budget, he has yet to put forth a realistic plan. This is the person who first won election during the 2003 recall election by promising to cut up the state's credit cards and demonstrate fiscal responsibility that his predecessor lacked. Yet, since he has been in office, he has spent as lavishly as Gov. Gray Davis did. And all Schwarzenegger has put...

About a month ago, the California Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, issued a declaratory opinion that Proposition 22, which states that, “Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California,” enshrined into statutory law by 61.4% of California voters in 2000 (over four million voters), was “unconstitutional” on the basis that "gender discrimination" violates the equal protection clause of the state constitution. The LA Times reported that: "The California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday in a broadly worded decision that would invalidate virtually any law that discriminates...

RFFM.org Guest Column by Gregg Jackson * About a month ago, the California Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, issued a declaratory opinion that Proposition 22, which states that, "Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California," enshrined into statutory law by 61.4% of California voters in 2000 (over four million voters), was "unconstitutional" on the basis that "gender discrimination" violates the equal protection clause of the state constitution. The LA Times reported: "The California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday in a broadly worded decision that would...

The John McCain campaign ... installed Steve Schmidt, until now an ultraintense counselor to the campaign, as its operations manager. Mr. Schmidt has a reputation for ruthless efficiency, a take-no-prisoners campaign style and the ability to inspire confidence in subordinates. Karl Rove once dubbed him "The Bullet," a reference to both the shape of his shaved head and his lethal impact when deployed against opponents. Starting with a stint on Capitol Hill as communications director for the House Republican campaign effort, the 37-year-old Mr. Schmidt has had a meteoric rise in politics. He became a counselor to Vice President Dick...

The Terminator's Terminator The John McCain campaign decided it had to do something completely different on Wednesday as it finally reacted to a chorus of complaints that its message was muddled, its public events uneven and its organization lagging. It installed Steve Schmidt, until now an ultraintense counselor to the campaign, as its operations manager. Mr. Schmidt has a reputation for ruthless efficiency, a take-no-prisoners campaign style and ability to inspire confidence in subordinates. Karl Rove once dubbed him "The Bullet," a reference to both the shape of his shaved head and his lethal impact when deployed against opponents. He...

Arnold Schwarzenegger has risked accusations of green hypocrisy by driving around in a gas-guzzling Dodge Challenger Coupe. The Hollywood star-turned Californian governor has built a reputation as a leading green campaigner and last Friday told a climate-change meeting in Florida: "America is so addicted to oil it will take us years to wean ourselves from it, and to look for new ways to feed our addiction is not the answer." In an interview last year, the governor spoke of his wish to create "a whole new industry of clean cars and clean engines and components to build those engines." To...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, appearing in a taped interview Sunday on "Meet the Press," defended GOP presidential candidate John McCain as "the real deal on the environment". "I'm very proud of him. I'm 100 percent behind him," he told Tom Brokaw. Schwarzenegger acknowledged that he doesn't support everything McCain has proposed, just as he isn't always in accord with his wife, Maria Shriver, a Democrat who has endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. "That (McCain and I) don't agree on everything, it's clear. Nor do I agree with my wife," he said. But "he's terrific with the environment," and with a President...

The Talk Shows Sunday, June 29th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa.; former Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Bob Barr, Libertarian presidential candidate.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., Dave Freudenthal, D-Wyo., and Bill Ritter, D-Colo.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; retired Gen. Wesley Clark.THIS WEEK (ABC): Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.; Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; Ralph Nader, independent presidential candidate.LATE EDITION (CNN) : U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Govs. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., and Bobby Jindal, R-La.; Terry McAuliffe, campaign...

Okay, I'm waiting for Republicans to go on the attack here. If Democrats hold up drilling, aren't we then, in theory, using up more of the world's existing supplies? When is the GOP going to get clever here? This is such an easy position to take. By not drilling, we are using more of our foreign neighbor's supplies, an argument the Dems have used against us for decades. Also, ethanol taps into our food supply. If we use our food to make fuel, then we have less food to feed the poor. That's downright "evil"! Another dacades old Dem argument....

MIAMI (Reuters) - Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Friday that politicians who suggest that lifting a ban on offshore oil drilling would ease rising fuel prices in the United States were "blowing smoke." The comments were seen by the U.S. media as a slap at Republican leaders including President George W. Bush and the party's presumptive presidential nominee John McCain, who have recently spoken in favor of more offshore drilling as America tries to wean itself from its dependence on foreign oil. A spokesman for the governor, however, said the comments were not directed at McCain, nor at...

Given California's infinite diversity and its maddeningly diffused governmental apparatus, it's rare for the state's politicians to undertake a comprehensive and expansive change of public policy. The decades-long stalemate on water, the state's perpetual budget crisis and the failure of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care plan are merely three examples of the political system's chronic inability to act decisively and effectively. And even on those rare occasions when major new policies are adopted, they tend to fall well short of their purported benefits, a sterling example being the unanimous approval of electric energy "deregulation" in 1996 that became a colossal...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California on Thursday took a major step forward on its global warming fight by unveiling an ambitious plan for clean cars, renewable energy and stringent caps on big polluting industries. The plan, which aims to reduce pollutants by 10 percent from current levels by 2020 while driving investment in new energy technologies that will benefit the state's economy, is the most comprehensive yet by any U.S. state. It could serve as a blueprint not only for the rest of the United States, ... "This is of tremendous importance, not only for California," Mary Nichols, chairman of...

As he so often does, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now finds himself in the middle between his fellow Republicans and the Democrats in the Legislature, this time on the question of whether California government needs a new spending limit to end its cycle of boom-and-bust budgeting. Republicans say yes, emphatically. They want a strict limit that would shrink the size of government over time. Democrats say no, just as firmly. They want no artificial constraints on the power of the purse and say the state's problem is not reckless spending but a chronic shortage of tax revenue. Schwarzenegger has taken a...

The governor's office said Schwarzenegger would skip a planned address to the 47th annual Capital Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday. Instead, he will appear with Republican presidential hopeful John McCain at an environmentally-themed campaign event in Santa Barbara. Organizers believe it is the first time a sitting governor has declined to address the annual gathering, although there is no official record. State Assemblyman Rick Keene has organized the breakfast for the past three years. A spokesman for the Chico Republican, Evan Oneto, said Keene was saddened when he learned the governor would be a no-show. Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he opposes lifting a ban on new oil drilling in coastal waters, breaking with President Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Schwarzenegger, who has endorsed McCain's presidential bid, said the federal offshore drilling ban was not to blame for soaring gas prices. A federal moratorium has been in place for 27 years. "We are in this situation because of our dependence on traditional petroleum-based oil," Schwarzenegger said in a statement that referred only to Bush's call for the ban and did not mention McCain. "The direction our nation needs to go in,...

SAN DIEGO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may like John McCain as a presidential candidate, but not enough to drop his opposition to offshore oil drilling off the California coast. The governor told reporters Wednesday that the state would maintain its long-held stance against offshore drilling, despite the positions taken this week by both the Arizona senator and President Bush. He also suggested that scrambling for new sources of crude oil in response to the recent drastic upturn in fuel prices represented a step backward at a time when America needs to move forward in its quest for energy independence. A...

SACRAMENTO - Oil and water may not mix, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. John McCain still do. Through spokesman Aaron McLear, California's Republican governor stood by his choice of presidential candidates even after McCain called for lifting a federal moratorium on off-shore oil drilling. McCain would allow states to determine their own fate, but entice coastal lawmakers to make way for platforms by promising rewards - probably a share of the royalties. California is grappling with a monster-sized budget deficit, but lawmakers and voters probably still remember the disastrous 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the Exxon Valdez accident...

Romney Move On Arnold? Mitt Romney is moving to San Diego, and could anyone guess that the abode he's clamped his mitts upon is in La Jolla ? He claims that the move is not political and that he already has family in the San Diego area, but it's hard to believe that Romney is not mulling a run for governor, as at least a backup to a possible national role. Wasn't the first thing we heard from Bob Barr last year, upon his switch to the Libertarian Party, that he DIDN'T plan to run for any office? Romney's former...

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his veto power to eliminate the obscure Electricity Oversight Board, he put at risk $3 billion in state funds – money due the state from settlements with power merchants who victimized California during the electricity crisis. The governor’s 2007 action removing the EOB also means oversight over the state’s electricity grid is likely to be placed under the control of the PUC, which would entail a significant expansion of the authority of the Public Utilities Commission. This maneuvering comes amid an intensifying power clash between the Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission, led by president...

Nail parlors and smoggy vehicles could get fewer inspections under a little-known borrowing plan proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to advocates opposed to his budget. The governor's latest plan to close a $15.2 billion budget gap in the state's $101.8 billion general fund would dip into pots of money in "special funds" intended to further the state's regulatory and environmental cleanup efforts. Schwarzenegger is promising to repay most of the $574 million in special funds within three years, but consumer and environmental activists said they are wary of the promise, given the state's spotty repayment record when similar moves...

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, raised the spectre of emergency water rationing throughout the state for the first time in its 160-year history amid a severe drought that some are blaming on global warming. The Kern river runs dry. Declining snowfall in the Sierra Nevadas has reduced the run-off into state rivers by half The drought is expected to push up food prices further as the farmers in Central Valley - the US's primary source for tomatoes and grapes, among other food products - write off their crops because of a lack of water to irrigate them. The US...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will formally declare today that the state has plunged into a drought, putting Californians on notice that rationing could be next if conservation efforts are not stepped up. “The governor is ringing the bell. We're heading over a cliff,” Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources, said in an exclusive interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune. Schwarzenegger will issue an accompanying executive order to launch an aggressive campaign to transfer water to parched regions, pursue federal aid, quickly funnel more state money to conservation projects and to lay the foundation for a...

Between Dave Brubeck's piano jazz, Quincy Jones' musical repertoire and Alice Waters' inventive cuisine, the California Hall of Fame can throw one heck of a party. Especially considering actor Jack Nicholson will have a front-row seat. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver on Wednesday announced the third class of California Hall of Fame inductees, which includes legends as varied as actress-activist Jane Fonda, author Theodor Geisel ("Dr. Seuss") and two-time Nobelist Linus Pauling. Also making the cut were sculptor Robert Graham, fitness guru Jack LaLanne, photographer Dorothea Lange, architect Julia Morgan and former Gov. Leland Stanford. The new...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday will join governors from both sides of the border in Mexico City to push for more action on crime-fighting and border security, a visit that comes as Mexico is facing unprecedented violence. Schwarzenegger will offer support to Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his crackdown against the drug trade, in which he has deployed more than 20,000 federal troops across Mexico. Cartels have responded with increasingly bold attacks against security forces, including beheadings and assassinations of top police officials and soldiers. On Tuesday, seven federal officers were killed in a shootout with one cartel. Beyond policy...