As you may recall, AB 812 is the bill to encourage Caltrans to use higher percentages of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in hot mix asphalt.  Thank you to everyone for their support and turnout the first week of January when AB 812 came up in the Assembly Transportation Committee. 

The bill will be up in Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on June 12. 

 by Mark Landsbaum - OC Register

Gov. Jerry Brown promised not to follow the lead of his predecessors, to right the ship of state and to make the hard decisions in order to get the state budget into shape. How did that work out?

As economist Thomas Sowell says, “The fact that so many successful politicians are such shameless liars is not only a reflection on them, it is also a reflection on us. When the people want the impossible, only liars can satisfy them, and only in the short run.”

Steven Greenhut

California continues to play budget games.

Posted on May 14, 2012 at 8:05pm by Becket Adams

Here’s a shocker: the top 100 universities* in America prefer left-leaning commencement speakers to conservatives by a ratio of seven-to-one, according to a new report from the Young America’s Foundation (YAF), the principal youth activism wing of the conservative movement.

In fact, according to the YAF report, out of 106 keynote speakers scheduled to address America’s “top universities,” an astounding 71 can be identified as “liberal” while the rest are either politically unaffiliated (25) or conservative (10).

“Among the top 35 universities, only one conservative is scheduled to speak, compared to 29 liberals,” YAF spokesman Ron Meyer writes, adding that 16 White House officials have been scheduled to speak this year, more than all the conservatives combined.

“Young America’s Foundation’s previous research shows that Bush administration officials spoke at the top 100 universities a total of 14 times throughout his Presidency. In President Obama’s first three years, administration officials have spoken 29 times—more than double the total number of Bush administration speeches,” Meyer adds.

The rest-of-the-story

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/report-liberal-2012-commencement-speakers-outnumber-conservatives-seven-to-one

Contra Costa Times editorial 05/07/2012

A new legal opinion by the Legislature's attorney that concludes the Metropolitan Transportation Commission exceeded its legal authority by using bridge toll money to speculate on San Francisco real estate is right on the money. The opinion should cause MTC to immediately reverse course.

The commission -- a collection of 19 public officials from around the Bay Area -- was a leading advocate for increasing tolls on Bay Area bridges from $2 in 2004 to $5 today.

The toll for three-axle vehicles or combinations on the region’s seven state-owned toll bridges increased to $10.50 from $6. Tolls for four-axle vehicles rose to $14 from $8.25; tolls for five-axle vehicles went up to $18 from $11.25; tolls for six-axle rigs climbed to $21 from $12 and tolls for vehicles with seven or more axles ballooned to $24.25 from the current $13.50.