California Faultline

LOS ANGELES AND ORANGE COUNTY

Barack Obama said he believed it was “pretty clear that O.J. was guilty” in an interview with ABC’s Nightline in an effort to seperate his views as being unique from that of many black Americans. [Top of the Ticket]

Plans to build a private, self contained, newly annexed suburb of the City of L.A. called Las Lomas were voted down by City Council on Wednesday. The city could be hit back with an expensive lawsuit. [KNBC]

US Attorney’s reps attempt to defend the decision to disband a corruption wing as former employees claim they’re being threatened if they go forward with the real reason. [LA Times]

The Long Beach school board has asked the state for a waiver on restrictions on how certain education funds could be spent. In the same meeting, the board ended an experiment with single-gender classes. [Long Beach Press Telegram]

OC Republicans are suing a Congressional candidate for putting the title “Mayor of Huntington Beach” on her resume -  they argue that since the post isn’t voted on (it rotates to different council members annually) it isn’t legally allowed. [OC Register]

SAN DIEGO 

San Diego’s growing number of properties being declared historical, allowing for dramatic tax deductions, the city is being deprived of signifigant revenue, a county grand jury determined. [San Diego Union-Tribune]

SAN FRANCISCO AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 

A Sonoma County community is getting all NIMBY about a proposed Vet rehab center, apparently fearing PTSD crazies will go all Rambo in wine country. [Daily News]

Gov. Schwarzenegger was met by dozens of hecklers in Pleasant Hill as he compared his budget plan to the path to heaven: “Everyone wants to get there, but nobody wants to do what it takes to get there.” [NBC 11]

State Senator Jeff Denham, R-Merced is facing a recall election after he failed to vote on the state budget last July. [Fresno Bee]

Mayor Newsom ordered all city agencies to cut payroll expenses by 8% which will likely result in hundreds of layoffs. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Are KFI’s John and Ken bigots? They’re getting some flack for depicting  Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, an Italian-American, as a Mafia gangster in ads that complain of his call for higher taxed. [Calitics]

STATEWIDE

A new “Top Two” primary voting system could be coming to California soon, wherein voters vote for anyone on the ballot. “The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general.” [Politics, Anyone?]

While on break this week eight state Assembly member have headed to Spain and Japan to learn more about high speed rail, solar power, and public-private partnerships. [Sacramento Bee]

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has been awarded the JFK Profile in Courage Award for her handling of flawed electronic machines. [California Progress Report]

A federal judge has thrown out a California challenge to a national abortion law signed by Pres. Bush in 2004 allowing for “harsh financial penalties on states that discriminate against doctors who refuse to provide abortions.” [LA Times]

LOS ANGELES

Long Beach City Council approved a new on where sex offenders can live, limiting offenders to one per residential building, and none within 2000′ of child-care centers, parks or schools. [Long Beach Press-Telegram]

The City of Glendale has purchased an 85-year old sanitarium it hopes to convert in a library. [Glendale News Press]

David Zahniser of the LA Times finds the City of LA’s definition of a lobbyist to be confusing and ripe for abuse. (the def: “anyone who is paid to work 30 hours on a specific city project over a three-month period and who makes one verbal contact with a single policymaker during that time.”)

ORANGE COUNTY

Mission Viejo city council is trying to see if existing laws can be used to curb day laborers, such as their current “anti-trespassing” law, or even something within the state vehicle code. [OC Register]

Government agencies and services Orange County will now be officially rebranded as being from the “OC” to capitalize on the popularity of the TV show. I’m not kidding. [OC Register]

ELSEWHERE IN CALI

Bakersfield area churches pipe in on the Obama/Wright controversy. [Bakersfield Californian]

In November a Vallejo man was mayor for a single day when a close election appeared to be in his favor - a recount determined he’d actually lost by two votes. He since challenged the final results, and just yesterday finally dropped the case. [NBC 11]