Capitol Alert: AM Alert: It's Election Day

Capitol Alert

The latest on California politics and government

November 8, 2011

AM Alert: It's Election Day

It's not the big 2012 showdown, but today nonetheless is Election Day. In Ohio, voters are deciding whether to repeal a law limiting collective bargaining rights. In Mississippi and Kentucky they are electing (or re-electing) governors.

In San Francisco, voters will decide whether to make interim Mayor Ed Lee their first elected Chinese-American mayor. They'll use ranked-choice voting - an instant runoff system - to choose among 16 candidates. Democratic Sen. Leland Yee, the subject of some unflattering robocalls, plans to spend the day courting votes from his Leland Yee for Mayor trolley.

Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, is running for City Council in Los Angeles, seeking the seat vacated by Janice Hahn's election to Congress. Could be a runoff in January if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote.

TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN: Education experts will gather at the Sheraton Grand in Sacramento today for a sold-out summit to discuss the new kindergarten approach coming California's way.

Organizers say the transitional kindergarten year, added under legislation signed in 2010 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger changing the kindergarten entry age, will be the first new grade in California schools since 1891, when kindergarten was added.

Among the participants: Schools chief Tom Torlakson, Democratic Sen. Joe Simitian and the designer of Proposition 98, John Mockler.

Preschool California has more information here.

PRO-TAX PROTESTS: Refund California, a union-backed group seeking tax increases on businesses and the wealthy, is organizing protests that begin on college campuses today, including Fresno State and Sacramento State, and move to UC Davis and UC Berkeley on Wednesday. The group wants to put the money toward jobs and higher education.

About Comments

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

blog comments powered by Disqus

FOLLOW US | Get more from sacbee.com | Follow us on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook | Get news in your inbox | View our mobile versions | e-edition: Print edition online | What our bloggers are saying