Monday, January 30, 2006
Eagle Lake Sunrise
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Arnold - his popularity is on the skids
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Politics - Governor embarks on image change - sacbee.com
Politics - Governor embarks on image change - sacbee.com:
On Monday, it was childhood obesity.
The Republican governor stood arm-in-arm with state Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, at a Capitol press event where he again voiced support for Escutia's legislation aimed at reducing childhood obesity.
Escutia has been pushing her bills for five years, she said, and even members of her own party thought she was wasting her time when she talked about taking junk food out of school vending machines.
"Five years in the making, this is an absolute dream," Escutia said at a podium where she, Schwarzenegger and about 20 schoolchildren were surrounded by bright displays of California fruits and vegetables.
Elaborately staged, the event was part of a concerted strategy to portray Schwarzenegger in a new light as a run-up to the highly combative special election he's called for Nov. 8.
"The progress in solving a broken California is substantial," Rob Stutzman, his communications director, said in an interview. "We're going to make sure the people of California see that and understand that."
But even with the bipartisan support on obesity, Democrats took strong exception to Schwarzenegger claiming credit for fixing the state's more serious problems.
"I don't think there has been substantial progress," said Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento. "He has spent the lion's share of his time engaging in name-calling and fundraising and politics as usual.
"Now he wants to shift the public's attention from the absence of a real record by claiming credit for Democratic initiatives. It's really quite ironic."
Part of Schwarzenegger's strategy for the next six weeks has to do with the season: It's summer, the Legislature is on recess and it's too early for Schwarzenegger to start campaigning full time for his special election agenda with voters' attention focused elsewhere.
But with his approval rating and popularity with voters sinking the past seven months, he and his advisers concede they're looking for ways to stop the slide. One strategy that is gaining currency inside his office, they said, is for him to announce soon that he plans to run again in 2006, giving him - and his supporters - a much-needed momentum boost heading into the special election in November.
"Perception is the entertainment of politics but substance is what counts," Mike Murphy, his chief political strategist, said Monday.
Most of what Schwarzenegger plans to trumpet in coming weeks has to do with his relatively early signing of the state's budget - without a tax increase, with an extra $1.3 billion for transportation and with far less borrowing than he had originally proposed. Even so, estimates for the budget deficit next year range as high as $7 billion.
"California has flourished under this governor," Stutzman said. "The economy has flourished. There's $6 billion more in revenues, without a tax increase."
Whatever political good will Schwarzenegger's signing of the budget may have generated, aides acknowledged it was quickly overshadowed amid disclosures a few days later about the governor's $5 million editing contract with two bodybuilding magazines.
He canceled the deal after critics said he had a conflict of interest for vetoing a bill that would have restricted the use of dietary supplements by high school athletes. The magazines get much of their revenue from supplements advertising.
"The great reality for Arnold is that the truth helps," Murphy said. "The more people know about this other stuff, people will like him better. It's good politics and it's good government."
It may be smart strategy, pollster Mark DiCamillo said. But he's not sure it will work.
"He needs to have a public posture ... of working to do deals and compromising with the Legislature to get the public's business done," said DiCamillio, whose statewide Field Poll has been tracking gubernatorial performance for nearly six decades.
"But the outstanding subject bothering the public is his calling the special election and the confrontations it engendered," he said. "It looks more like political theater than good public policy. Until he makes peace with the various factions, he's still going to be seen as a contentious governor."
Although his political aides discussed the pros and cons of seeking legislation to call off the election in a conference call Friday, Schwarzenegger insisted he has no intention of doing so.
"We're moving forward as planned," he said.
In trying to get Schwarzenegger back on track, his political team is hoping to replicate the phoenix-like revival of his political mentor, former Gov. Pete Wilson.
In October 1993, only 21 percent of Field Poll respondents said Wilson was doing a good job. Months later, another poll had him trailing Kathleen Brown, the former state treasurer, by 23 points when Wilson sought a second term. When votes were counted in the 1994 election, Wilson defeated Brown 55 percent to 40 percent.
"Every governor has a wilderness period, and a lot of them manage to get out and do well," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College near Los Angeles. "There were times when Pete Wilson looked like a goner and came back strong in 1994.
"This period by no means spells doom for Schwarzenegger, but he and his team have to do some serious reviews and determine what went wrong and work very hard to set it right in the future."
About the writer:
* The Bee's Gary Delsohn can be reached at (916) 326-5545 or gdelsohn@sacbee.com.
INSIDE An appeals court temporarily suspends a judge's order to toss a redistricting measure from the special election ballot. * Page A3
The Sacramento Bee - Get the whole story every day - SUBSCRIBE NOW!
|
Governor embarks on image change
Six-week effort aims to alter perception he's confrontational.
By Gary Delsohn -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to try the political version of one of those makeovers popular on afternoon TV talk shows - where the guest is transformed from unsightly to attractive.Convinced that the public sees the former film star as someone more fixated on name-calling and political head-butting than he is on actual, day-to-day governing, Schwarzenegger and his advisers say they have decided it's time for a radical change of course.
So for at least the next six weeks, instead of shopping center rallies and clever insults hurled at Democrats and labor unions, Schwarzenegger will hold a series of public events aimed at showing he's making progress on a number of issues.
On Monday, it was childhood obesity.
The Republican governor stood arm-in-arm with state Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, at a Capitol press event where he again voiced support for Escutia's legislation aimed at reducing childhood obesity.
Escutia has been pushing her bills for five years, she said, and even members of her own party thought she was wasting her time when she talked about taking junk food out of school vending machines.
"Five years in the making, this is an absolute dream," Escutia said at a podium where she, Schwarzenegger and about 20 schoolchildren were surrounded by bright displays of California fruits and vegetables.
Elaborately staged, the event was part of a concerted strategy to portray Schwarzenegger in a new light as a run-up to the highly combative special election he's called for Nov. 8.
"The progress in solving a broken California is substantial," Rob Stutzman, his communications director, said in an interview. "We're going to make sure the people of California see that and understand that."
But even with the bipartisan support on obesity, Democrats took strong exception to Schwarzenegger claiming credit for fixing the state's more serious problems.
"I don't think there has been substantial progress," said Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento. "He has spent the lion's share of his time engaging in name-calling and fundraising and politics as usual.
"Now he wants to shift the public's attention from the absence of a real record by claiming credit for Democratic initiatives. It's really quite ironic."
Part of Schwarzenegger's strategy for the next six weeks has to do with the season: It's summer, the Legislature is on recess and it's too early for Schwarzenegger to start campaigning full time for his special election agenda with voters' attention focused elsewhere.
But with his approval rating and popularity with voters sinking the past seven months, he and his advisers concede they're looking for ways to stop the slide. One strategy that is gaining currency inside his office, they said, is for him to announce soon that he plans to run again in 2006, giving him - and his supporters - a much-needed momentum boost heading into the special election in November.
"Perception is the entertainment of politics but substance is what counts," Mike Murphy, his chief political strategist, said Monday.
Most of what Schwarzenegger plans to trumpet in coming weeks has to do with his relatively early signing of the state's budget - without a tax increase, with an extra $1.3 billion for transportation and with far less borrowing than he had originally proposed. Even so, estimates for the budget deficit next year range as high as $7 billion.
"California has flourished under this governor," Stutzman said. "The economy has flourished. There's $6 billion more in revenues, without a tax increase."
Whatever political good will Schwarzenegger's signing of the budget may have generated, aides acknowledged it was quickly overshadowed amid disclosures a few days later about the governor's $5 million editing contract with two bodybuilding magazines.
He canceled the deal after critics said he had a conflict of interest for vetoing a bill that would have restricted the use of dietary supplements by high school athletes. The magazines get much of their revenue from supplements advertising.
"The great reality for Arnold is that the truth helps," Murphy said. "The more people know about this other stuff, people will like him better. It's good politics and it's good government."
It may be smart strategy, pollster Mark DiCamillo said. But he's not sure it will work.
"He needs to have a public posture ... of working to do deals and compromising with the Legislature to get the public's business done," said DiCamillio, whose statewide Field Poll has been tracking gubernatorial performance for nearly six decades.
"But the outstanding subject bothering the public is his calling the special election and the confrontations it engendered," he said. "It looks more like political theater than good public policy. Until he makes peace with the various factions, he's still going to be seen as a contentious governor."
Although his political aides discussed the pros and cons of seeking legislation to call off the election in a conference call Friday, Schwarzenegger insisted he has no intention of doing so.
"We're moving forward as planned," he said.
In trying to get Schwarzenegger back on track, his political team is hoping to replicate the phoenix-like revival of his political mentor, former Gov. Pete Wilson.
In October 1993, only 21 percent of Field Poll respondents said Wilson was doing a good job. Months later, another poll had him trailing Kathleen Brown, the former state treasurer, by 23 points when Wilson sought a second term. When votes were counted in the 1994 election, Wilson defeated Brown 55 percent to 40 percent.
"Every governor has a wilderness period, and a lot of them manage to get out and do well," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College near Los Angeles. "There were times when Pete Wilson looked like a goner and came back strong in 1994.
"This period by no means spells doom for Schwarzenegger, but he and his team have to do some serious reviews and determine what went wrong and work very hard to set it right in the future."
About the writer:
* The Bee's Gary Delsohn can be reached at (916) 326-5545 or gdelsohn@sacbee.com.
INSIDE An appeals court temporarily suspends a judge's order to toss a redistricting measure from the special election ballot. * Page A3
The Sacramento Bee - Get the whole story every day - SUBSCRIBE NOW!
|
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Politics - Governor, Legislature, reach budget accord - sacbee.com
Politics - Governor, Legislature, reach budget accord - sacbee.com:
But it preserves some social services spending - including the state's contribution to in-home care workers - that that the governor had previously sought to cut.
"It is a terrific day for California, we have just agreed on the budget," Schwarzenegger declared, standing side-by-side with the top Republicans and Democrats from the Assembly and Senate.
The agreement came after four days of closed doors meetings among the so-called "Big Five" and after months of acrimony between Schwarzenegger and the Legislature.
As he announced the deal Tuesday, Schwarzenegger said he plans to use good will that came out of budget talks to try to work out a compromise over his spending restraints that will appear on November's special election ballot.
"We have gained tremendous momentum here," Schwarzenegger said. "I think we should use that momentum now."
The Bee’s Alexa H. Bluth can be reached at (916) 326-5542 or abluth@sacbee.com.
Related news
* AP: Governor, legislative leaders agree on new state budget
|
Governor, Legislature, reach budget accord
By Alexa H. Bluth -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 6:00 pm PDT Tuesday, July 5, 2005
[Updated: 7:44 p.m. Tuesday] Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and four legislative leaders reached a state budget agreement Tuesday evening, five days past the start of the new fiscal year but still paving the way for the governor to sign the earliest state spending plan in four years.The deal, scheduled for votes in the Legislature Thursday, achieves Schwarzenegger's goals to avoid tax increases and funnel gasoline sales tax proceeds to highway and transit projects for the first time since voters said the funds should be used for transportation.
But it preserves some social services spending - including the state's contribution to in-home care workers - that that the governor had previously sought to cut.
"It is a terrific day for California, we have just agreed on the budget," Schwarzenegger declared, standing side-by-side with the top Republicans and Democrats from the Assembly and Senate.
The agreement came after four days of closed doors meetings among the so-called "Big Five" and after months of acrimony between Schwarzenegger and the Legislature.
As he announced the deal Tuesday, Schwarzenegger said he plans to use good will that came out of budget talks to try to work out a compromise over his spending restraints that will appear on November's special election ballot.
"We have gained tremendous momentum here," Schwarzenegger said. "I think we should use that momentum now."
The Bee’s Alexa H. Bluth can be reached at (916) 326-5542 or abluth@sacbee.com.
Related news
* AP: Governor, legislative leaders agree on new state budget
|
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Politics - Messy state books thwart savings drive - sacbee.com
Politics - Messy state books thwart savings drive - sacbee.com
Messy state books thwart savings drive
New purchasing strategy gets off to a slow start
By Andrew McIntosh -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 8, 2005
A year after the Schwarzenegger administration announced plans to save as much as $96 million annually on state purchases, bureaucrats say California will save about 10 percent of what it had estimated this year.
Instead of finding big savings, the administration has found a state bookkeeping system that is years behind what the private sector and some other states swear by.
"From pencils to computers to vehicles, the state has not previously placed a premium on knowing what it buys, in what quantities it buys, from whom it buys, or how much it spends overall on major categories of goods and services," Ron Joseph, the director of the Department of General Services, wrote to a Senate panel examining the administration's new purchasing program. General Services is the state's procurement arm.
Without such data, Joseph noted in his report to the Senate, the state cannot begin to compile purchasing history and inventory records that are critical to leveraging buying power to squeeze lower prices from suppliers - a tactic in the private sector known as "strategic sourcing."
In April 2004, General Services awarded a three-year contract to CGI-AMS Inc. of Virginia to help the state identify where and how to cut spending on various goods using tough negotiating tactics and bulk buying. For every dollar CGI-AMS helped bureaucrats save, the state pledged to pay the company 10.5 cents.
In announcing the deal last June, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said: "Given our current fiscal crisis, we need to take full advantage of California's purchasing power to get the best service and the best products for the best price. We will save millions of dollars just by being smarter about how we buy things."
The governor's budget later estimated strategic sourcing would yield up to $96 million in savings on the $4 billion in supplies the state planned to purchase this fiscal year.
To identify where California might save money on state spending, bureaucrats and CGI-AMS' employees first had to determine how much each state department and agency spends on a variety of different goods and services. What the state paid for an item or service over the past year becomes a benchmark against which future savings are measured when contracts are signed.
The administration had hoped that CGI-AMS would collect and analyze state spending data by Aug. 3, 2004, but Joseph said the dreadful condition of the state's computerized purchasing data delayed that job for months.
CGI-AMS said it found that much of the state's spending data was inaccurate or did not exist.
"General Services maintained no comprehensive ordering data and the state controller's office did not maintain an accounts payable system that was capable of providing line-item detail of any significance," Joseph told the state Senate.
While the new purchasing and contracting effort has gotten off to a rocky start, prompting criticism and questions from Senate Democrats, Joseph said the state is committed to strategic sourcing. He noted the new effort has helped or will help the state save $10 million this year on office supplies, pharmaceuticals and police cars.
The $10 million excludes CGI-AMS' fee. The company has yet to be paid for any of its work.
As the state improves its bookkeeping, Joseph expects the state will see greater savings in the future, and he points to the success some other states have had.
In the last several years, Silver Oak Solutions of Boston helped launch strategic sourcing efforts in Delaware and Virginia, allowing those states to save $20 million and $36 million, respectively.
Joseph said he still hopes to meet his saving targets as the program continues, with big savings on purchases of computers, servers and other data storage devices.
"The promise of considerable savings remains as real today as it was a year ago when we committed to delivering this program," he said.
Still, there will be challenges. For one, Joseph said, the state has to marry the aggressive principles that drive strategic sourcing to socially progressive state policy priorities.
"The state faces unique challenges when attempting to use its sheer size to drive the best price, recognizing that it has well-founded commitments to small-business enterprises and to disabled-veteran business enterprises," he said.
During the Senate hearing, Democrats raised questions about the shaky start, the mixed record of CGI-AMS in other states and the company's ties to the Schwarzenegger administration, as well as the process in which CGI-AMS was selected.
Weeks before winning the contract, CGI-AMS gave $25,000 to Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team - a donation solicited by Republican fundraiser Wendy Warfield.
CGI-AMS also awarded a three-month public relations contract to a firm partly owned by Marty Wilson, the governor's chief fundraiser. Partner Beth Miller handled the work, which was worth about $15,000.
CGI-AMS says its donation supported a bipartisan campaign led by the governor and state Controller Steve Westly, a Democrat, to sell $15 billion in bonds to alleviate the budget crisis.
The donation and connections, first reported by the Associated Press, gave political ammunition to Democratic Sens. Joseph Dunn of Santa Ana and Liz Figueroa of Sunol to grill General Services officials about possible irregularities during the three rounds of bidding for the contract and raise questions about the performance of CGI-AMS.
Angela Morris, a CGI-AMS spokeswoman, said the number of complaints against the firm in other states is small compared to the many jobs it has done well. The company earned $219.6 million in profit on $3.2 billion in revenue last year.
During the bidding process, General Services acknowledged to the senators, one of its employees had gained unauthorized access to a room where sealed bids for the strategic sourcing contract were being stored.
The employee opened the CGI-AMS bid envelope, checked something inside and put it back. Nobody is certain what he checked, said Janice King, a senior procurement executive.
King reprimanded the worker but didn't ask why he did it.
"He is a longtime civil servant, he violated the rules and you didn't ask him why? I could spin a conspiracy here," Dunn said.
Another state employee admitted that she erased a passing grade she gave to another bid, by Accenture of New York, and that she disqualified the bid.
Dunn suggested officials too quickly disqualified Accenture.
Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, said Dunn and other Democrats were using innuendo to undermine the project. He noted Accenture filed no complaint or protest.
Accenture declined comment.
Joseph and CGI-AMS both dismissed suggestions the contract was improperly tendered, and both stressed that the disappointing results to date are due to the state's out-of-date bookkeeping.
"The state's journey on this path has been a challenge," Joseph said. "We have a lot to do and a lot yet to learn."
About the writer:
* The Bee's Andrew McIntosh can be reached at (916) 321-1215 or amcintosh@sacbee.com.
|
Messy state books thwart savings drive
New purchasing strategy gets off to a slow start
By Andrew McIntosh -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 8, 2005
A year after the Schwarzenegger administration announced plans to save as much as $96 million annually on state purchases, bureaucrats say California will save about 10 percent of what it had estimated this year.
Instead of finding big savings, the administration has found a state bookkeeping system that is years behind what the private sector and some other states swear by.
"From pencils to computers to vehicles, the state has not previously placed a premium on knowing what it buys, in what quantities it buys, from whom it buys, or how much it spends overall on major categories of goods and services," Ron Joseph, the director of the Department of General Services, wrote to a Senate panel examining the administration's new purchasing program. General Services is the state's procurement arm.
Without such data, Joseph noted in his report to the Senate, the state cannot begin to compile purchasing history and inventory records that are critical to leveraging buying power to squeeze lower prices from suppliers - a tactic in the private sector known as "strategic sourcing."
In April 2004, General Services awarded a three-year contract to CGI-AMS Inc. of Virginia to help the state identify where and how to cut spending on various goods using tough negotiating tactics and bulk buying. For every dollar CGI-AMS helped bureaucrats save, the state pledged to pay the company 10.5 cents.
In announcing the deal last June, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said: "Given our current fiscal crisis, we need to take full advantage of California's purchasing power to get the best service and the best products for the best price. We will save millions of dollars just by being smarter about how we buy things."
The governor's budget later estimated strategic sourcing would yield up to $96 million in savings on the $4 billion in supplies the state planned to purchase this fiscal year.
To identify where California might save money on state spending, bureaucrats and CGI-AMS' employees first had to determine how much each state department and agency spends on a variety of different goods and services. What the state paid for an item or service over the past year becomes a benchmark against which future savings are measured when contracts are signed.
The administration had hoped that CGI-AMS would collect and analyze state spending data by Aug. 3, 2004, but Joseph said the dreadful condition of the state's computerized purchasing data delayed that job for months.
CGI-AMS said it found that much of the state's spending data was inaccurate or did not exist.
"General Services maintained no comprehensive ordering data and the state controller's office did not maintain an accounts payable system that was capable of providing line-item detail of any significance," Joseph told the state Senate.
While the new purchasing and contracting effort has gotten off to a rocky start, prompting criticism and questions from Senate Democrats, Joseph said the state is committed to strategic sourcing. He noted the new effort has helped or will help the state save $10 million this year on office supplies, pharmaceuticals and police cars.
The $10 million excludes CGI-AMS' fee. The company has yet to be paid for any of its work.
As the state improves its bookkeeping, Joseph expects the state will see greater savings in the future, and he points to the success some other states have had.
In the last several years, Silver Oak Solutions of Boston helped launch strategic sourcing efforts in Delaware and Virginia, allowing those states to save $20 million and $36 million, respectively.
Joseph said he still hopes to meet his saving targets as the program continues, with big savings on purchases of computers, servers and other data storage devices.
"The promise of considerable savings remains as real today as it was a year ago when we committed to delivering this program," he said.
Still, there will be challenges. For one, Joseph said, the state has to marry the aggressive principles that drive strategic sourcing to socially progressive state policy priorities.
"The state faces unique challenges when attempting to use its sheer size to drive the best price, recognizing that it has well-founded commitments to small-business enterprises and to disabled-veteran business enterprises," he said.
During the Senate hearing, Democrats raised questions about the shaky start, the mixed record of CGI-AMS in other states and the company's ties to the Schwarzenegger administration, as well as the process in which CGI-AMS was selected.
Weeks before winning the contract, CGI-AMS gave $25,000 to Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team - a donation solicited by Republican fundraiser Wendy Warfield.
CGI-AMS also awarded a three-month public relations contract to a firm partly owned by Marty Wilson, the governor's chief fundraiser. Partner Beth Miller handled the work, which was worth about $15,000.
CGI-AMS says its donation supported a bipartisan campaign led by the governor and state Controller Steve Westly, a Democrat, to sell $15 billion in bonds to alleviate the budget crisis.
The donation and connections, first reported by the Associated Press, gave political ammunition to Democratic Sens. Joseph Dunn of Santa Ana and Liz Figueroa of Sunol to grill General Services officials about possible irregularities during the three rounds of bidding for the contract and raise questions about the performance of CGI-AMS.
Angela Morris, a CGI-AMS spokeswoman, said the number of complaints against the firm in other states is small compared to the many jobs it has done well. The company earned $219.6 million in profit on $3.2 billion in revenue last year.
During the bidding process, General Services acknowledged to the senators, one of its employees had gained unauthorized access to a room where sealed bids for the strategic sourcing contract were being stored.
The employee opened the CGI-AMS bid envelope, checked something inside and put it back. Nobody is certain what he checked, said Janice King, a senior procurement executive.
King reprimanded the worker but didn't ask why he did it.
"He is a longtime civil servant, he violated the rules and you didn't ask him why? I could spin a conspiracy here," Dunn said.
Another state employee admitted that she erased a passing grade she gave to another bid, by Accenture of New York, and that she disqualified the bid.
Dunn suggested officials too quickly disqualified Accenture.
Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, said Dunn and other Democrats were using innuendo to undermine the project. He noted Accenture filed no complaint or protest.
Accenture declined comment.
Joseph and CGI-AMS both dismissed suggestions the contract was improperly tendered, and both stressed that the disappointing results to date are due to the state's out-of-date bookkeeping.
"The state's journey on this path has been a challenge," Joseph said. "We have a lot to do and a lot yet to learn."
About the writer:
* The Bee's Andrew McIntosh can be reached at (916) 321-1215 or amcintosh@sacbee.com.
|
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Books - Shriver signs books for fans - sacbee.com
Books - Shriver signs books for fans - sacbee.com: "Shriver signs books for fans
By Alison apRoberts -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 3:34 pm PDT Tuesday, May 3, 2005
The normally quiet California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in downtown Sacramento drew a crowd of several hundred people Monday at noon.
The attraction was a rare chance for Californians to meet their first lady, Maria Shriver. She was there to sign copies of her new book, 'And One More Thing Before You Go...' (Simon & Schuster; $13.95; 62 pages.) The book, based on a speech given at a high school graduation, offers advice to young women.
Shriver, wearing a pale green tweed jacket, smiled and chatted with those who waited, and who appeared to be ardent admirers of the former newswoman and member of the Kennedy clan."
Among those who came to the signing was Joey Swiencki, who is 41 and lives in Carmichael. He has competed in Special Olympics over the years and wanted to meet Shriver, who has been a longtime advocate for the competition, which was started by her mother, Eunice Shriver.
"I get to meet her in person," Swiencki said.
"She's a role model for women," said Suzanne Chan, as she waited in line. "I absolutely adore her.
Shriver is scheduled to sign books from 6-7 p.m. tonight at the Borders store at 2339 Fair Oaks Blvd. (916) 564-0168.
|
By Alison apRoberts -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 3:34 pm PDT Tuesday, May 3, 2005
The normally quiet California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in downtown Sacramento drew a crowd of several hundred people Monday at noon.
The attraction was a rare chance for Californians to meet their first lady, Maria Shriver. She was there to sign copies of her new book, 'And One More Thing Before You Go...' (Simon & Schuster; $13.95; 62 pages.) The book, based on a speech given at a high school graduation, offers advice to young women.
Shriver, wearing a pale green tweed jacket, smiled and chatted with those who waited, and who appeared to be ardent admirers of the former newswoman and member of the Kennedy clan."
Among those who came to the signing was Joey Swiencki, who is 41 and lives in Carmichael. He has competed in Special Olympics over the years and wanted to meet Shriver, who has been a longtime advocate for the competition, which was started by her mother, Eunice Shriver.
"I get to meet her in person," Swiencki said.
"She's a role model for women," said Suzanne Chan, as she waited in line. "I absolutely adore her.
Shriver is scheduled to sign books from 6-7 p.m. tonight at the Borders store at 2339 Fair Oaks Blvd. (916) 564-0168.
|
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Gov. Praises 'Minuteman' Campaign
Schwarzenegger says group's patrols against illegal immigrants have been effective. One critic calls remarks 'nothing short of base racism.'
Gov. Praises 'Minuteman' Campaign: "SACRAMENTO — Calling the nation's borders dangerously porous, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday praised the private 'Minuteman' campaign that uses armed volunteers to stop illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S.
Schwarzenegger said in a radio interview that the federal government is failing to secure the border with Mexico, and he cast the hundreds of private citizens who have been patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border since April 1 as a popular response to government inaction. "
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Gov. Praises 'Minuteman' Campaign: "SACRAMENTO — Calling the nation's borders dangerously porous, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday praised the private 'Minuteman' campaign that uses armed volunteers to stop illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S.
Schwarzenegger said in a radio interview that the federal government is failing to secure the border with Mexico, and he cast the hundreds of private citizens who have been patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border since April 1 as a popular response to government inaction. "
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