Alaska

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL: Here's an important and under-reported story: Nevada's schools will be closed on Election Day in November. That should boost turnout in a swing presidential state. And it also could give a boost to the Nevada teachers' unions, who are attempting to raise gaming taxes to boost education funds. Not having to teach that day will boost turnout. Also, about 800 of the poll workers could be students, says the state's registrar of voters. In related news, a Nevada judge rules that two measures to tax gaming to provide funds for education can remain on the ballot. The judge thinks they make little sense, but says that the voters have the right to decide that for themselves.

AG'S DOMAIN: Some agriculture interests are getting aggressive in opposing Prop 98, one of the two measures on June's California ballot that would put restrictions on eminent domain. The Sacramento Bee says that this represents a divide in the agriculture community, since the California Farm Bureau is one of the initiative's backers. (Prop 98's restrictions include tigher limitations on using condemnation for private purposes and on retn control than its competitor, Prop 99).

Pardon all the animal talk. Your blogger doesn't keep pets and has a fear of most animals as a result of growing up on the streets of Hong Kong (wild dogs) and Southern California (coyotes). But direct democracy is all about animals these days. Three political consultants -- who live in three separate time zones -- told me last week that they expect a measure on confinement of farm animals to be the biggest initiative campaign in California this fall. The agriculture industry -- particularly the chicken folks -- see this initiative as a mortal threat.

I came across the following video in my attempts to learn more about the aerial wolf hunting initiative scheduled for the August ballot in Alaska. It's by Defenders of Wildlife, so take it with a grain of salt. But it gave me at least a mental picture of what Alaskans will be debating this summer.

NYT MISSES THE POINT IN COLORADO: The New York Times weighs in on the Colorado ballot initiative that would make corporate executives criminally responsible if their companies break the law. The Times focuses on the angry Qwest employees who are backing the measure, and misses the larger context. The initiative is part of a union-business battle that encompasses other measures in the state. The center of the fight is a right-to-work initiative, which has been countered by five recent initiatives filed by the United Food and Commercial Workers, best known for representing the people working in grocery stores.

RIGHT TO DIE ON THE STREET: Well, not yet. But the attacks have begun on the latest assisted suicide initiative from ex-Governor Booth Gardner. Petition gatherers, many from California, are already on the street gathering signatures. Anyone out there know the price?

DOG DEBATE: A debate breaks out over how many workers might be affected if a dog-track measure doesn't pass in Massachusetts.

Your blogger simply can't get enough news of the wolf-heavy ballot initiative politics of Alaska. In this latest development, legislators are trying to slip through a bill that effectively would remove the ability of voters to decide how wolves are hunted. Fortunately, the Anchorage Daily News is calling them on it.

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.

This is a fascinating little story about a municipal ballot measure in Anchorage, Alaska. The goal? Deregulate the taxi business there.

QUESTION TIME: Last year, San Francisco voted down a ballot initiative that would have required the mayor to submit to "question time" from the board of supervisors, in the same manner that British prime ministers must take questions in the House of Commons. But the board of supes hasn't given up, inviting Mayor Gavin Newsom to show up and take questions. He is declining these invitations. Newsom, who remains popular despite a public confession of adultery with a top aide's wife, has been deflecting requests for information of all kinds as he explores a race for governor in 2010. (Arnold is termed out, so the seat is open).