With so much news traffic about the California budget, some readers might ask: just how hard is it to balance this deficit?
A new online application from the LA Times, titled “You balance the budget,” gives anyone the opportunity to close the state’s $24 billion shortfall.
You can increase taxes, cut programs, or propose a combination of the two.
To challenge yourself, try balancing the budget without raising taxes. In several statements issued last week, Governor Schwarzenegger said he would not sign off on a budget that includes tax increases. So, see if you can draft a budget that the governor would approve.
Senate democrats, including Pro Tem Darrel Steinberg (D-Sacramento), have been adamant about certain tax increases and protecting programs like CalWORKs and Cal Grants. They have proposed a 9.9 percent oil severance tax and increasing cigarette tax to raise revenue in a budget revision that would have saved the “safety net programs.”
That revision failed in the legislature, and was destined for a veto by the governor should it have passed.

A daily roundup of the biggest headlines in Bay Area and national news.

Closure of Bay Area Schools Reconsidered

After federal health officials recommended the closure of at least 11 Bay Area schools, those officials are rethinking that recommendation, The SF Chronicle reports. Infected children are now turning up in community areas, according to Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

UCLA Faces State Fine after Lab Fire

UCLA is being fined $31,875 by the state of California after racking up three lab violations in a lab fire in December, The LA Times reports. One research assistant was fatally burned in the fire.

A daily roundup of the biggest headlines in Bay Area and national news.

Supreme Court to Consider Constitutionality of Life in Prison for Juveniles

Returers reported that the US Supreme Court will consider whether juveniles can be sentenced to life in prison for crimes other than murder, agreeing to hear arguments in two Florida cases

Obama to Toughen Offshore Tax Policies

President Barack Obama presented proposals today targeting American companies and wealthy individuals that pay lower tax rates by investing money overseas, The New York Times reported.

A daily roundup of the biggest headlines in Bay Area and national news.

Obama to Make First Appointment as Justice Retires

Justice David H. Souter, appointed in 1990 by George H. W. Bush, plans to retire at the end of the term in June, giving President Obama his first  opening for an appointment to the Supreme Court, The New York Times reported.

Biden’s Take on Swine Flu

According to the Los Angeles Times, officials are doing some damage control after Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday on a morning talk show that he was telling his family members to avoid planes, trains and other enclosed spaces while the Obama administration has been trying to downplay causes for alarm.

Charges Against American Israel Public Affairs Committee Employees May Be Dropped

Prosecutors asked a judge to drop espionage-related charges against two former lobbyists of a pro-Israel lobbying group, citing a series of court decisions that made it unlikely their case would succeed. Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman were charged in 2005 with conspiring to obtain classified information and pass it to the Israeli government and journalists, according to The Washington Post.

A daily roundup of the biggest headlines in Bay Area and national news.

Obama Enters Round Two

100 days have passed since President Barack Obama’s first day in office, marking a dramatic shift from the previous administration, CNN reports. Obama, who has an approval rating over 60 percent, will still face challenges passing legislation on health care and immigration in the days ahead.

Chrysler to Declare Bankruptcy

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the car company Chrysler plans to file bankruptcy and form a government-backed alliance with Fiat. The deal between the two companies will be announced later today.

Confirmed Swine Flu Cases Double

The World Health Organization announced today that the number of confirmed swine flu cases worldwide has risen to 236, with most of the new cases stemming from Mexico, CNN reports. There were just 147 cases as of yesterday.

Berkeley residents will soon see a new mural at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School.

The mural, which depicts Martin Luther King Jr. and President Barack Obama, was approved earlier this month by the Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education.

The school’s Principal Jason Lustig said the school has been thinking about painting the mural in the barren sixth grade plaza for about a year.

“We’re excited about it,” Lustig said. “It’s something that we wanted to do.”

Some members of the community have raised concerns that depicting President Obama in a mural before he’s even finished his first year in office is premature.

However, Lustig said the mural honors the election of the first African American president in the United States and that President Obama’s politics are not related to the painting.

“(The mural) is not a statement about whether or not you agree with (Obama) politically,” he said. “He’s our first African American president and that deserves honoring in and of itself.”

District Spokesperson Mark Coplan said the only real issues down the road are what the district will do with murals a decade after they’ve been painted and whether the district will restore or paint over them.

Coplan said the Parent Teacher Association at the school has given the district permission to paint over or cover the mural if deemed necessary in the future.

The mural is the newest addition to a vast collection of murals that decorate district property.

Coplan said mural painting is a way to make buildings and structures better reflect the communities they serve.

“In our schools, it very clearly is a desire on part of the school population to personalize institutionalized space,” he said.

A daily roundup of the biggest headlines in Bay Area and national news.

First US Swine Flu Death

A Mexican toddler visiting the US with family died on Wednesday of what health officials have confirmed was swine flu, the New York Times reports. There are currently 91 cases in 10 states, and a Bay Area school has temporarily closed after a student attended class whille sick with the disease.

Bay Area Bus Crash Kills at Least Five

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, at least five people were killed and many more were injured when a bus carrying French tourists overturned on Highway 101 Tuesday afternoon.

US Stocks Rally

The Wall Street Journal reports that US stocks hit three-month highs. A representative for the Federal Open Market Committee said the economic outlook has improved since March, but that it will “remain weak.”

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and UC President Mark Yudof spoke at the Academic Senate meeting Thursday after tossing down dirt for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Richard C. Blum Center for Developing Economies. While both alluded to budget concerns, neither had any new or specific information to share.

Yudof, citing the $450 million budget deficit, told the audience that tough times were ahead and that all departments should deal pragmatically with the funding gap.

“I think it is very important to take a hard look at your programs and not just cut everything across the board,” he said.

He also mentioned a student fee increase, soon to be further discussed in a press conference Wednesday. Yudof said that the campus community should anticipate roughly a 10 percent increase. (Click here to read more…)

A daily roundup of the biggest healdines from Bay Area and national news.

Boy Dies in Skateboarding Accident

A 16-year-old boy died in South San Francisco on Monday after being flung from his skateboard on a steep hill, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ford Loses $1.4 Billion

Ford announced today that they lost $1.4 billion in quarterly earnings, but that they have enough money to survive the year, the New York Times reports. Ford’s two domestic rivals are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Deadly Swine Flu in Mexico

Reuters reports that a deadly new strain of swine flu has killed as many as 61 people in Mexico and has already spread to the US, where several people have become ill.

A daily roundup of the biggest headlines in Bay Area and national news.

Parks to Receive Funds

Among the areas that are getting stimulus funds, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said Wednesday that 22 national parks are receiving a total of $97 million, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. These include Bay Area locales like the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The money is expected not only to preserve the parks, but to create jobs and sustainable projects.

Freddie Mac Official Found Dead

David B. Kellermann, the acting chief financial officerat Freddie Mac, allegedly committed suicide in his home on Tuesday, The New York Times reports. The mortgage-buying company was taken over by the federal government in September after facing severe losses.

Obama Remains Popular

President Barack Obama boasts high approval ratings at 63 percent, with 26 percent of Americans saying they disapprove of the way he is handling his job, the Los Angeles Times reports. Although only a third of Republicans agreed with the President’s actions so far in the Pew Research Center’s survey, he soared in approval ratings for his work in foreign affairs. Approval from younger voters dropped somewhat, from 73 percent in February to 61 percent.