Odds and ends from the past week...

TELL US WHAT YOU REALLY THINK: Steve Maviglio, Democratic political operative and aide to Speaker Fabian Nunez, unloads on the Foundations for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, now called Consumer Watchdog. The group is putting together a ballot initiative on health care. 

EMINENT DOMAIN MEASURES: As the California press corps withers, Capitol Weekly gets stronger. This past week, the newspaper has an excellent account of the back-and-forth over two competing eminent domain measures on the June ballot, Propositions 98 and 99. In brief, backers of Prop 98 (supported by an anti-tax group) are accusing backers of Prop 99 (supported by California cities) of "astro-turfing," the practice of using deceptively-named organizations with no real members.

WOLVES!!! A new development in the wolf wars in Alaska. A judge says the government can continue to shoot wolves from the air, though he invalidated the practice in certain parts of the state. The question of such aerial hunting -- to reduce the wolf population and protect caribou and other species -- goes to voters in the Last Frontier in August.

MISSED THIS: Last week, the Supreme Court approved Washington state's open primary, which was approved by voters as Initiative 872. The ruling offers important guidance, because the courts have struck down open primaries in California and other states. Open primaries allow voters to select from candidates of any party on a ballot; previous challenges have argued that such primaries infringe the rights of political parties to choose their own nominees. The Washington initiative appears to have passed muster because it did not specifically choose nominees. It merely set up a first round with all the candidates on the ballot; the top two, regardless of party, advanced to the general election.

LOOPHOLE? Are Washington state legislators scheming to find a way around an initiative establishing a two-thirds supermajority for tax increases?

SOUTH DAKOTA: Signatures are turned in on an initiative that would prohibit taxpayer-financed lobbying and most campaign donations from government contractors to public officials. Such prohibitions have been challenged successfully on First Amendment grounds elsewhere. 

BUSINESS ON BUSINESS: Yet another business vs. business fight at the ballot: a lawsuit seeks to knock off the ballot an initiative that would treat private rental homes in Big Bear more like businesses. (Hoteliers have complained about the competition.)

THE KIDS LOVE HIGH SPEED RAIL: College students, under the auspices of CalPIRG, do a California tour in support of an oft-delayed high-speed rail bond scheduled for the November ballot.