But a new federal study has found that the state has used relatively little of the billions of dollars in tobacco money for prevention.

According to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1998 and 2010, 6 percent of the money collected from a massive lawsuit settlement and from cigarette taxes was used for tobacco prevention and education programs.

Between those years, California collected nearly $22 billion from a lawsuit settlement with tobacco companies and from cigarette taxes. And the federal report found that in 2010, the state spent about $79 million on anti-tobacco efforts, about 18 percent of what federal guidelines recommends to have a significant impact on the public.

The tobacco tax is not the only one coming under question in terms of spending.

An examination by The Associated Press has found that California’s specialty license plate program has raised millions of dollars since being authorized 20 years ago, but has virtually no independent oversight of how organizations spend the money.

KCBS, CBS 5 and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier:

You can hear Phil Matier’s comments Monday through Friday at 7:50am and 5:50pm on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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The five-member panel will likely discuss Tuesday at City Hall exactly how the hearing process will work, including the length of the hearing and whether to allow live witnesses or only written testimony.

Mirkarimi pleaded guilty in March to one count of misdemeanor false imprisonment after being accused of bruising the arm of his wife, Venezuelan actress Eliana Lopez during an argument on New Years’ Eve.

Mayor Ed Lee suspended Mirkarimi without pay. Mirkarimi has vowed to fight for his job.

The commission will eventually issue a recommendation to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors as it will take nine votes from the 11-member board to permanently remove Mirkarimi from office.

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The first hearings on transforming the crumbling and dilapidated docks at Piers 30-32 into a shiny new venue for the NBA team could be just weeks away, said Jennifer Matz, director of San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

“We expect to have a term sheet before the Board of Supervisors and the Port Commission by Labor Day,” she said, with the environmental impact review beginning in just a couple of weeks.

KCBS’ Doug Sovern Reports:

“It’ll build off the recently completed America’s Cup environmental impact report,” Matz said, adding it could take as long as 18 months to study all the possible effects the arena might have on traffic and the San Francisco Bay.

She predicted design, review and approval of the arena would be done in two years, and estimated construction would take another three years.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said a call from the Warriors the night before the San Francisco deal was announced did nothing to dissuade her from plans to build a new sports complex on the Coliseum site.

The Warriors hope to open the San Francisco arena in the fall of 2017, but Quan maintains higher construction costs will ultimately sink her rival’s waterfront deal.

“It doesn’t require $100 million to build into the Bay, if they get permission to do that. And it also doesn’t include the $95 million the Warriors will have to pay if they leave before 2027,” she said.

Quan believes Oakland is in a position financially to complete the Coliseum City project much sooner than the time frame for the San Francisco waterfront proposal.

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U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken said a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, is unconstitutional to the extent that it limits same-sex spouses of state workers in obtaining the insurance.

The provision of the 1996 DOMA law defines marriage as “a legal union of a one man and one woman as husband and wife.”

It has been used to bar gay and lesbian spouses from obtaining a variety of federal benefits.

Wilken issued her ruling in a lawsuit filed against the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, known as CalPERS, by same-sex couples. The system has refused to let gay spouses enroll in its federally approved insurance program on the ground that they were excluded by DOMA.

Wilken said the DOMA ban violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment. She wrote that there was no proof the DOMA provision was “rationally related to a legitimate government interest.”

Thursday’s decision makes Wilken the second trial judge in the U.S. District Court for Northern California to strike down that section of the 1996 law.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of San Francisco issued a similar ruling in February in a lawsuit filed by Karen Golinski, a federal appeals court staff attorney who wants to enroll her wife in the court’s employee health plan.

An appeal of White’s decision by a Republican-led Congressional group is slated to be heard by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in September.

The group, known as the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, is made up of the five top leaders of the House of Representatives. It stepped into both the cases before White and Wilken after the Obama Administration said last year it will no longer defend DOMA.

The group’s three Republican members, including Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, supported intervening in the two lawsuits to defend DOMA. Its two Democratic members, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, opposed doing so.

Another decision by a federal judge in Massachusetts striking down DOMA is on appeal before a U.S. appeals court in Boston.

In Thursday’s ruling, Wilken also struck down a U.S. Internal Revenue Service law to the extent that it bars domestic partners from enrolling in the long-term care insurance plan offered by CalPERS.

She ordered CalPERS to begin allowing gay and lesbian spouses and partners to enroll in the plan, but also said she will suspend that order during an appeal if the Congressional group files an appeal.

Wilken had indicated, in two previous rulings in which she declined to dismiss the case, that she was likely to strike down the DOMA provision.

The government-approved long-term care insurance plan offered by CalPERS gives participants federal tax benefits.

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The California Vehicle Code currently requires drivers that overtake other vehicles to pass at a safe distance without specifying exactly how much room to allow. The bill (.pdf) by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach would allow drivers to cross a double yellow center line when safe in order to give a cyclist the three feet of clearance.

When there isn’t three feet available to pass, drivers would be required to slow down and give as much space as feasible under the proposal, co-sponsored by the City of Los Angeles and backed by bicycling advocates.

KCBS’ Rebecca Corral Reports:

A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year.

While enforcing such a law would be difficult, Christopher Monsere, director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory at Portland State University, said it could provide a good reference point for discussion and expectations.

“All modes sort of view the other modes with a little suspicion, but motorists who are also cyclists tend to have a little bit more empathy towards the cyclists’ position. And same thing with pedestrians who are cyclists,” he said.

Monsere views distraction and speed as the most important factors for policy makers to consider in road safety. He noted that distraction is a problem that affects everyone.

“Driver distraction, cyclist distraction, pedestrian distraction,” he said. “Those laws about cell phone use and those other things that are going on in the vehicle and when we’re using our bikes, those have the most opportunity to make an impact on safety.”

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“We made pretty deep cuts that also reorganized the city to make sure that we could keep as many frontline services as possible, and I think Oakland is on the rise. Oakland is growing,” Quan said.

A $48 million reserve and tax revenue that is $10 million above projections make it possible to restore senior services that had been cut, Quan said, and to hold another police academy class.

KCBS’ Doug Sovern Reports:

City Administrator Fred Blackwell said there is available money for a $1.8 million environmental review on the Coliseum City project, which is also intended to keep the Oakland A’s and Oakland Raiders from leaving.

“We think we still have not only a great site for all three teams, but a very viable project, still,” Blackwell said.

City officials hope to build a news sports complex across from the current Oracle Arena and O.co Coliseum, a project Quan said is far more substantial than the San Francisco waterfront development announced Tuesday.

Quan dismissed the proposed basketball arena at Piers 30-32 as little more than an idea and a handshake that faces many obstacles.

“It’s a very tough site for them to develop,” she said.

“We don’t think the game’s over on the Warriors or any of the teams.”

KCBS, CBS 5 and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier Reports:

The balanced budget was welcome news after two years of public employee concessions, although the 2012-13 budget does not solve long-term challenges that include $1 billion in unfunded pension and healthcare costs.

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Obama departed from Moffett Field in Air Force One at about 10:20 a.m., just 16 hours after he arrived.

The president wrapped up his Bay Area visit Thursday morning with an 8:30 a.m. fundraiser at the Fairmont San Jose hotel, with tickets priced at $35,800 per person.

After arriving at Moffett Field just before 6:20 p.m. Wednesday, Obama headed to a fundraising dinner at the Atherton home of philanthropists Lisa and Doug Goldman.

Obama then continued on to Redwood City’s Fox Theatre for a campaign rally, where he was greeted by hundreds of supporters and several groups of protesters outside. Tickets started at $250, with premium seating for the event ranging from $1,000 per person to $12,500.

The president is now headed to Iowa, with stops planned in the cities of Newton and Des Moines.

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Supervisors on Tuesday approved a non-binding resolution urging the Navy to name a ship after slain supervisor and gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

Supervisor John Avalos told the San Francisco Chronicle that before voting, he believes he made contact with Milk’s spirit and that Milk spelled out letters indicating: “Good riddance to don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The quip made national news as an example of San Francisco wackiness.

However, Avalos now says he was just kidding and the closest he’s gone to the occult is reading all the Harry Potter books.

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The bill would reduce the penalty for simple drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor, a classification already in place in more than a dozen states.

KCBS’ Anna Duckworth Reports:

“And what we found in those 13 states which already do this is they have higher rates of drug treatment participation and lower rates of drug use, not surprisingly, because we know the treatment works,” said Leno.

A new poll by Tulchin Research in San Francisco shows that there is overwhelming support for a reform in California’s drug laws.

Pollster Ben Tulchin said it shows 87 percent of likely voters believe the state’s prison system is overcrowded and 70 percent support reducing simple possession punishment.

“Not surprisingly, the Bay Area offers the highest support for this reform at 82 percent,” said Tulchin.

Opponents to the bill include several law enforcement organizations and the California District Attorney’s Association, which argue it would be a disincentive to treatment and could lead to an increase in crime.

The non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said the law could save counties $159 million a year and the state $64 million annually.

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Air Force One flew in from Colorado Wednesday evening and touched down at Moffett Field in Mountain View at 6:18 p.m.

The president, clad in a dark suit and blue tie, waved and smiled at the crowd of dozens awaiting his arrival before greeting local officials, including NASA Ames Research Center Director Simon Pete Worden, Sunnyvale Mayor Tony Spitaleri, Mountain View Mayor Mike Kasperzak and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto.

Mr. Obama shook hands with members of the crowd before getting into his town car and driving off in his motorcade.

One attendee who shook the president’s hand was 10-year-old Kyle Chomaker of Pleasanton. The Fairlands Elementary School student was stunned by the gesture saying, “I didn’t think it was possible.”

Video: President Obama At Redwood City Fundraiser
Watch Part 1 | Watch Part 2

Sheila Johnson, a community relations coordinator for NASA Ames Research Center, said she has met three presidents in her lifetime but her excitement hasn’t waned.

“It is an absolute thrill and joy to be privileged to be here to shake his hand,” she said.

Obama arrived at a fundraising dinner at the Atherton home of philanthropists Lisa and Doug Goldman around 7:10 p.m. Tickets for the dinner cost $35,800 per person.

Following the Atherton fundraiser, Obama spoke at a sold-out rally at  Redwood City’s Fox Theatre. Premium seating for the event started at $1,000 per person with some paying as much as $12,500.

On Thursday, the president is expected to attend a fundraiser at the Fairmont San Jose. Twenty people are expected to attend the 8:30 a.m. event, which cost $35,800 per person.

He is scheduled to fly out from Moffett Field Thursday around 10 a.m.

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Speaking in Spanish through a translator, Mariela Castro addressed about 50 medical professionals and transgender advocates at San Francisco General Hospital on Wednesday.

She has an international reputation as an outspoken gay rights advocate and lobbied her father’s government to cover sex reassignment surgery under the national health plan, which it has since 2008, and to legalize same-sex marriages, which so far it has not.

“If we don’t change our patriarchal and homophobic culture…we cannot advance as a new society, and that’s what we want, the power of emancipation through socialism,” she said . “We will establish relationships on the basis of social justice and social equality…It seems like a Utopia, but we can change it.”

Castro, director of Cuba’s National Center for Sex Education, or CENESEX, spoke about transgender health care in Cuba. Wednesday’s speech was part of her multiday visit devoted largely to meeting with gay and transgender rights activists and an academic conference where she is scheduled to chair a panel on sexual diversity.

She was one of at least 60 Cuban scholars who were granted U.S. visas to attend Thursday’s meeting of the Latin American Studies Association.

A number of Cuban-American politicians have criticized the State Department—which provided special agents as Castro’s security detail in San Francisco—for issuing Castro an entry visa. They noted that U.S. rules prohibit Communist Party members and other high-ranking Cuban government officials from entry without special dispensation. Aside from kinship, Mariela Castro has no official link to the government, although CENESEX is part of Cuba’s public health ministry.

She credited her late mother, Vilma Espin, who served as president of the Federation of Cuban Women and was a member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, with inspiring her to seek equal rights for Cuba’s marginalized citizens. Espin died in 2007.

“I promised her we would be able to achieve that, and I can’t let go because the process is not complete,” she said.

Castro described Cuba’s Communist Party as an increasingly good ally in advancing gay rights. The party approved a statement earlier this year advocating the elimination of all remaining forms of discrimination in Cuban society, a position which can be used to push for policies that benefit gay and transgender people, she said.

“What helped is we went to the Communist Party, the leaders, and told them our ideological context of this,” she said. “It was very difficult to have this internal division in the Communist Party, but it seems like they are becoming more and more relaxed.”

During her 90-minute appearance at San Francisco General, she said she wanted her audience to hear a Cuban’s perspective on the half-century of animosities between Havana and Washington because it helps explain why the nation’s growth on issues like gay rights has sometimes been stunted.

“The Revolution has grown in Cuba, and it’s been more than 50 years now,” she said. “The Cuban people have been the victims of state terrorists, of the economic blockade against Cuba, campaigns to…misinform the world’s population about the power of a revolution.”

She also criticized Cuban exiles who oppose her father’s regime and that of her uncle, former president Fidel Castro, and support economic and travel restrictions between the U.S. and her country.

Castro also visited the United States in 2002 during Republican President George W. Bush’s administration. She obtained a visa to attend an event in Los Angeles, and also stopped in Virginia and Washington.

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Police cleared a meeting of the City Council’s public safety committee on Tuesday after protesters began yelling that the measure would infringe their rights. Some swore, shouted down a speaker and hinted at violence if the measure passed.

The ordinance would allow police to arrest demonstrators carrying shields, clubs and defensive sprays.

Councilmember Pat Kernighan said the proposal is modeled after similar laws in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. She said she might present the proposal to the full City Council at its next meeting.

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That was the sentiment at the United States High-Speed Rail Association Conference, which is being held in San Francisco this week.

KCBS’ Jeffrey Schaub Reports:

“I want to thank Governor Brown and the California High-Speed Rail Authority for bringing forth a new business plan that really responds to the earlier criticisms and sets us on the right track,” said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.

Despite that optimism, Lee said he understands the magnitude of the project and importance of it’s success for both California and the nation.

“It’s a huge infrastructure but it’s absolutely necessary for our future,” he said.

The project will come to a head on July 1 when the state legislature decides on whether to come up with more than $3 billion in funds for high-speed rail. If the state doesn’t come up with the funding, it will lose another $3 billion in matching federal funds.

“There’s already a lot of support. The governor is fully supportive of it,” said U.S. High-Speed Rail Association President Andy Kunz. “Much of the state legislature is supportive of it. It’s a matter of them really focusing on and understanding the deadline and that if they miss the deadline, they could actually lose their federal funding.”

The conference continues through Thursday in San Francisco.

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The school districts that could be in financial trouble include Berryessa Union, Evergreen Elementary and Ravenswood City.

Alum Rock Union Elementary School District is also on the list and Superintendent Jose Manzo blames state education cuts for their plight.

KCBS’ Mike Colgan Reports:

“About 80 percent of most district’s budget is on personnel,” Manzo said. “So when you have significant reductions in revenue, eventually it’s going to get to that level where it’s going to impact the lives of the people in terms of jobs.”

Manzo said that despite staffing cuts, the district has still been able to maintain a 20-to-1 student-teacher ratio in many classes.

“Despite all of those things, our teachers and our staff have really done an exemplary job in trying to bear the brunt of all of these challenges so there isn’t an impact to student learning,” he said. “We’ve doubled the API growth for the state the last three years in Alum Rock. Last year, we tripled the API growth.”

Manzo said the challenge now will be to maintain the status quo with further budget cuts threatened.

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The president was scheduled to land at Moffett Field before heading to the Peninsula for a fundraiser at the Atherton home of Levi Strauss heir Doug Goldman. Tickets for the event
cost $35,800 per person.

That will be followed by a public event at the Fox Theater in Redwood City where the President was scheduled to speak at about 9:25 p.m. Premium seating for the event started at $1,000 per person and went as high as $12,500.

After spending the night in San Jose, President Obama will be at a fundraising event Thursday morning originally set for a Palo Alto hotel. A roundtable with the Asian American/Pacific Islander community, also at $35,800 a head, was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at The Fairmont in downtown San Jose.

The Obama campaign said the switch was over “logistical purposes.” It will be President Obama’s first San Jose event since his election.

Bruce Cain, University of California, Berkeley political science professor, said the fundraisers are a way for President Obama to make up for the loss of banking donations he once enjoyed.

KCBS’ Tim Ryan Reports:

“In 2008, President Obama got more money than John McCain by a wide margin from the banking industry,” Cain said.

He said the president is in a delicate position because he’s no longer able to fund a robust campaign through small donations.

“While Romney is way behind right now in the regulated money, the Super PACS on the Republican side are really gearing up,” Cain said.

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The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved putting a minimum wage ordinance on the Nov. 6 ballot. If approved, the minimum wage would rise from $8 to $10 an hour, with annual inflation adjustments.

Mayor Chuck Reed said the election will allow for city leaders, residents and business owners time to gather input and weigh in on the proposed ordinance.

The Council’s vote came after a majority of public speakers urged councilmembers to adopt a minimum wage hike outright which the council rejected 8 to 3.

The proposal originated in a San Jose State sociology class that gathered enough petition signatures last month to qualify it for in time for an election.

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Supervisor John Avalos told the San Francisco Chronicle that he believes he made contact with Milk’s spirit and that Milk spelled out letters indicating: “Good riddance to don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The Board of Supervisors approved the non-binding resolution Tuesday on a 9-2 vote.

Milk was a city supervisor and former naval officer. He was fatally shot in 1978 by Dan White.

Supporters say the naming would honor the repeal of the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell” law barring open homosexuality in the military.

Opponents say Milk opposed war and it would be inappropriate to name a warship after him.

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The resolution, which has drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum, passed by a 9-2 vote.

Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by a former supervisor Dan White in 1978. Milk reached the level of lieutenant as a Navy diver during the Korean War era.

Opponents of the proposal have said Milk held many anti-war beliefs and was an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War during his political career.

The Secretary of the Navy typically makes naming decision for Navy ships. Secretary Ray Mabus has yet to weigh in on the USS Harvey Milk but has honored individuals who have distinguished themselves in non-military fields, including former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, labor leader Cesar Chavez and civil rights activist Medgar Evers.

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22 years ago, Californians put limits on how long state legislators could serve: six years in the Assembly, eight in the Senate, a total of 14 altogether. Attempts to loosen those limits have failed in the past, but now there’s Proposition 28, which is supported by the League of Women Voters, and Philip Ung with California Common Cause.

“This one is a middle of the road compromise that, one, reduces the number of years but also brings increased accountability to the Legislature by allowing them to serve twelve years in one house or a combination of both houses,” Ung reasoned.

Ung argues that, by permiting only twelve years of total service but allowing it to be all within the same house, the state will realize more experienced, capable legislators – instead of terming them out so quickly that they’re always running for the next office.

“What you see is a situation where they’re relying on special interests or unelected staff to make a lot of the decisions,” he suggested. “And I don’t think that is what they’re elected for, to rely on staff and lobbyists but to make decisions based on what’s best for the State of California.”

Not so, counters Philip Blumel, president of US Term Limits.

“It’s not an honest proposition,” he argued. “The purpose of it is to fool voters into voting for it and weakening the term limits laws in California even if the voters themselves believe in term limits.”

Blumel argues that most lawmakers don’t even jump houses after their term runs out, and Prop 28 will let Assemblymembers double their time in Sacramento and Senators increase theirs by 50%.

KCBS’ Doug Sovern Reports:

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The Democratic governor wants voters to approve the temporary increases in November as part of what he described as a series of steps to help California recover from the recession without deeper cuts to education and social services.

Brown, who was elected governor the first time in 1974, told the chamber’s annual gathering in Sacramento on Tuesday that he is looking forward to his “third act” when economic conditions have improved.

His speech, before about 1,000 business leaders, drew a mixed reaction. The level of government spending and the cost of public employee pension benefits remain concerns.

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Hundreds packed the War Memorial Building to meet with claim representatives as well as to complain to leaders of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Peninsula Congresswoman Jackie Speier said the Oakland VA Office, which handles claims from Kern County to the Oregon border, has around 34,000 unsettled benefit applications.

KCBS’ Chris Filippi Reports:

“We are in a room full of heroes that deserve to have each of their claims handled in a timely and expeditious fashion,” Speier said.

Many veterans who attended the meeting said they have been waiting months and sometimes even years for decisions.

Western Area VA Director Willie Clark said he is working as best as he can to handle the backlog.

“I’m going to take ownership of it. I’m in leadership,” Clark said. “We have to fix it.”

Clark said his department’s goal is to have no claims pending for more than 125 days with a 98 percent accuracy rating by 2015.

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The state Senate approved a bill Monday that would establish safety and performance standards for what are known as “autonomous” vehicles.

SB1298 by Sen. Alex Padilla also would allow the self-guiding vehicles on streets and highways, as long as a licensed driver is aboard. The bill passed 37-0 and goes to the Assembly.

Padilla, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said the vehicles can reduce accidents caused by human error.

Nevada and Florida have enacted similar laws. Padilla’s office said bills also are pending in Arizona, Hawaii and Oklahoma.

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“The reality of it is that the governor has got to rely as much on cuts as he can because he cannot depend on the Republicans in the Legislature to go along with any funding increases and he cannot necessarily rely on the Democrats in the Legislature to make all of the cuts in services that he wants to make,” reasoned Sacramento-based political consultant Leo McElroy.

The governor has already axed 15,000 state jobs. Now, he is proposing to double that number and institute a four-day work week, which would translate into a 5% pay cut for state workers.

Labor unions, as you might imagine, aren’t crazy about the idea.

“That’s a group that the governor was counting on very strongly for support on his tax measure in November and the likelihood of them feeling like they’re getting trampled on, on the one hand, and then ponying up money and political muscle to help the tax measure in November, seems a little far fetched,” said McElroy.

KCBS’ Jeffrey Schaub Reports:

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The honor comes as the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives marks 25 years in Congress. Pelosi represents California’s 8th Congressional District.

KCBS’ Barbara Taylor Reports:

The road was formerly known as Middle Drive East, and runs past the back of the California Academy of Sciences and past the Aids Memorial Grove. Nancy Pelosi Drive connects Martin Luther King Jr. Drive with John F. Kennedy Drive.

Pelosi previously had a street named after her in her home town of Baltimore shortly after she was elected Speaker of the House following the 2006 election.

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Obama will first attend a fundraising dinner at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Atherton home of philanthropists Lisa and Doug Goldman. Tickets for the event cost $35,800 per person.

The president will then attend a large rally at Redwood City’s Fox Theatre at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Premium seating for the event starts at $1,000 per person.

Redwood City Mayor Alicia Aguirre said the president’s visit has generated much enthusiasm in her city. “We’re really excited that he’s coming,” Aguirre said. “It really elevates Redwood City and puts it on the map.”

Aguirre said she has been contacted by people from various communities within the city who are interested in attending the event. “No matter what side you’re on in your beliefs and politics, it’s always a special treat to have the president visit your city,” she said.

The rally was expected to attract protesters from Occupy Redwood City, who plan to assemble outside the theater to protest what they say are civil liberties abuses abroad and collusion with corporate interests at home.

The last of Obama’s three fundraising events in the Bay Area is a campaign roundtable with the Asian-American/Pacific Islander community scheduled for 8 a.m. Thursday at the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto. Tickets for that event also cost $35,800 per person.

Obama last visited the Bay Area in February, when he attended a small fundraising dinner and a larger rally, both in San Francisco.

Ted Kwong,  Republican National Committee Regional  Press Secretary, issued a statement Monday afternoon responding to word of the President’s visit. “President Obama can’t seem to decide whether he wants to attack free enterprise or ask it for money to fund his campaign. Since his liberal borrow and spend economic policies haven’t lived up to his promises from 2008, his campaign must resort to pouring money into desperate attack ads that even his own Democrat allies call ‘nauseating.’”

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“When I saw the news I was absolutely horrified,” said State Senator Leland Yee, referring to a CBS5 report about the so-called bullet button.

It’s a modification that enables the magazine of a semi-automatic rifle to be removed quickly, with the tip of a bullet. Removable magazines in combination with other features like a pistol grip and telescoping stock are banned under California law. But the bullet button is legal because it doesn’t work with your finger, so the magazine is considered “fixed.”

The modification has allowed military style rifles like the AR-15 to proliferate in the state, something Senator Yee said has got to stop.

“It is extremely important that individuals in the state of California do not own assault weapons. I mean that is just so crystal clear, there is no debate, no discussion,” said Yee.

That’s why the Senator is introducing a bill to ban the bullet button.

“What I am proposing is to essentially prevent any mechanism that would allow the conversion of an assault weapon into a way that you can fire these magazines upon magazines without effort,” he said.

The senator’s bill is already in the cross-hairs of the Calguns Foundation, the state’s leading gun rights group.

“I am not sure the Legislature has an appetite to bite off something so large,” said Calguns President Gene Hoffman, the creator of the bullet button. “The real reason I designed it was because the original kind of ways to create AR-15s that were California legal were actually quite dangerous on the range.”

He said if a magazine is fixed, which is how California law requires it to be, bullets can jam.

“So the nice thing about the bullet button is that it allows you to remove the magazine and clear the jam,” he said, arguing that it essentially makes them easier to handle.  “They they are lightweight, easy to shoot for women. It’s more accurate.”

Since AR-15s have become the most popular selling firearm in America, he argues they’re now protected under the constitution.

“The reason the second amendment was put into the Bill of Rights is because General Gage wanted to take the Bostonians’ firearms. If Leland Yee wants to be General Gage it will be an interesting outcome,” said Hoffman.

Senator Yee said he’s ready for battle.

“It’s never going to be easy, but by the end of the day we are here in Sacramento to protect the general public and I think that is my priority,” said Yee.

Senator Yee plans to introduce his bill on Monday. As we did when we originally reported this story, we asked the State Department of Justice for comment on the issue. Once again they declined.

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The new book, “We Can All Do Better” focuses on the political gridlock in Washington and address the challenges of fixing issues such as the economy and foreign policy.

“There are two structural deficiencies with our political system. One is gerrymandering, how you draw Congressional district lines. Out of 435 Congressional seats, only 50 are competitive,” Bradley said. “The second problem is the role of money in politics. When I ran for the Senate the first time in 1978, I spent $1.68 million on the primary and general election. Jon Corzine won that seat in 2000 and spent $63 million, much of it his own money. If we’re going to get a hold of this, we’re going to need to have a Constitutional amendment that says federal, state and local governments may limit the amount of money in politics.”

KCBS Interviews Bill Bradley:

Bradley said Congress is being distorted by the money. But he said it truly all starts with the people and citizens, who have more power nowadays because of their ability to organize efforts, especially online.

“People have to realize that our history tells us that the major changes in America have come not from congressmen or senators, but from the people, from citizens. Most of the major social changes started with citizens who had convictions and took actions to bring pressure and change to take place on those who were elected,” he said.

Bradley said that political change can come, but it has to come first from the people, from citizens who want change to happen. He said part of the problem is that people don’t truly understand the amount of power they hold.

You can hear KCBS In Depth, a weekly half-hour news interview, Saturdays at 5:30a.m. and Sundays at 8:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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When San Francisco Police Officer Nick Birco was killed in 2006 by suspected robbers fleeing in a stolen van, it wasn’t immediately clear if he moved his cruiser into their path. But to SFPD Captain Daniel Mahoney, it was as simple as black and white.

“When the vehicle was struck it was at a complete stop,” Mahoney said confidently. It was six years later, and the case was finished in the courts.

Mahoney is Captain at Ingleside Station, but he’s also a crash reconstruction expert who uses electronic data recorders to determine exactly what has happened when vehicles collide.

“Some cases I can get up to five seconds of pre-crash data, meaning what has been recorded five seconds prior to the deployment of the airbag, or the airbag module waking up and thinking it has to deploy,” Mahoney explained.

If your car has an airbag, it already has the module that can house a data recorder. You won’t see the device – it’s not meant to be accessible. But by law, the owner’s manual has to tell you it’s there.

To download the data, you have to use software and hardware plugged into the same port your mechanic would use to diagnose engine trouble.

“It tells me whether the brake circuit is on, it tells me the percentage of throttle,” Mahoney said. “So as a reconstructionist, I’m going to look and see what that person’s feet are doing – are they on the brake? Are they on the gas?”

In addition to percentage of gas and brake power, the recorder can show the car’s speed, the change of speed at the crash, the time it took the airbag to deploy, the number of impacts, and even whether the driver’s seat belt was engaged. And it’s those personal details that trouble people with privacy concerns. For them, information privacy expert Jennifer King has some advice:

“Don’t own a cell phone,” she laughed. “(It) probably tracks far more information than these recorders do.”

In fact, the data recorders don’t even use GPS – so they don’t know where you are. And they’re not transmitting any information out wirelessly.

“Someone would have to actually physically come to your car and download that data to get it off,” King said.

California state law says you own that data. Anyone else who wants it has to have your permission, or a court order. A bill passed recently by the US Senate would make that the federal standard.

“We take it by consent of the owner of the vehicle or through a court order, a search warrant, where a judge authorizes us to do so. Other than that we would never do it,” Mahoney said.

Some insurance companies are requiring policy holders to agree in advance to surrender the data. In the case of Officer Birco’s death, the event data recorder that provided the crucial details came from the police car. The driver of the stolen van, Steven Petrilli, went on trial.

“The download that I was able to show in court that the when the vehicle was struck it was at a complete stop,” Mahoney said “And apparently the jury agreed because Mr. Petreilli was convicted.”

The federal law to require event data recorders in cars is working its way through house committees.

More information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on electronic data recorders.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.1813.ES:

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Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to fill an estimated $16 Billion budget gap, and cuts to the courts is part of his recently released, revised budget.

Judicial advocates consider it something along the lines of salt in the wound – considering the proposed cuts are on top of another half-billion in court reductions over the past four years.

“We’ve been so successful in protecting essential court services and the trial courts that, from the governor’s perspective, the trial courts have largely been held harmless from budget reductions,” suggested California Courts Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakayue.

“If these budget proposals really get passed, we’re looking at lines here at the Civic Center courthouse that might stretch two blocks and lines at the Hall of Justice for the traffic division where it might take you a whole day before you can pay your traffic citation,” warned San Francisco County Superior Court executive officer Mike Yuen.

Salvation, suggested Yuen, was in the hands of California’s Legislature, which he doubted would act before the June 5 election.

KCBS’ Bob Butler Reports:

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New 2011 census estimates highlight a historic shift underway in the nation’s racial makeup. They mark a transformation in a country once dominated by whites and bitterly divided over slavery and civil rights, even as it wrestles now over the question of restricting immigration.

“This is an important landmark,” said Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau who is now a sociologist at Howard University. “This generation is growing up much more accustomed to diversity than its elders.”

Interactive Map: County-By-County Demographic And Business Data

The report comes as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on the legality of Arizona’s strict immigration law. Many states are weighing similar get-tough measures as fewer Hispanics are opting to enter the U.S. due to the weak economy.

“We remain in a dangerous period where those appealing to anti-immigration elements are fueling a divisiveness and hostility that might take decades to overcome,” Harrison said.

As a whole, the nation’s minority population continues to rise, following a higher-than-expected Hispanic count in the 2010 census. Minorities increased 1.9 percent to 114.1 million, or 36.6 percent of the total U.S. population, lifted by prior waves of immigration that brought in young families and boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years.

But a recent slowdown in the growth of the Hispanic and Asian populations is shifting notions on when the tipping point in U.S. diversity will come—the time when non-Hispanic whites become a minority. After 2010 census results suggested a crossover as early as 2040, demographers now believe the pivotal moment may be pushed back several years when new projections are released in December.

The annual growth rates for Hispanics and Asians fell sharply last year to just over 2 percent, roughly half the rates in 2000 and the lowest in more than a decade. The black growth rate stayed flat at 1 percent.

The immigrants staying put in the U.S. for now include Narcisa Marcelino, 34, a single mother who lives with her two daughters, ages 10 and 5, in Martinsburg, W.Va. After crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in 2000, she followed her brother to the eastern part of the state just outside the Baltimore-Washington region. The Martinsburg area is known for hiring hundreds of migrants annually to work in fruit orchards. Its Hispanic growth climbed from 14 percent to 18 percent between 2000 and 2005 before shrinking last year to 3.3 percent, still above the national average.

Marcelino says she sells food from her home to make ends meet for her family and continues to hope that one day she will get a hearing with immigration officials to stay legally in the U.S. She aspires to open a restaurant and is learning English at a community college so she can help other Spanish-language speakers.

If she is eventually deported, “it wouldn’t be that tragic,” Marcelino said. “But because the children have been born here, this is their country. And there are more opportunities for them here.”

Of the 30 large metropolitan areas showing the fastest Hispanic growth in the previous decade, all showed slower growth in 2011 than in the peak Hispanic growth years of 2005-2006, when the construction boom attracted new migrants to low-wage work. They include Lakeland, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; Provo, Utah; Las Vegas; and Phoenix. All but two—Fort Myers, Fla., and Dallas-Fort Worth—also grew more slowly last year than in 2010, hurt by the jobs slump.

Pointing to a longer-term decline in immigration, demographers believe the Hispanic population boom may have peaked.

“The Latino population is very young, which means they will continue to have a lot of births relative to the general population,” said Mark Mather, associate vice president of the Population Reference Bureau. “But we’re seeing a slowdown that is likely the result of multiple factors: declining Latina birth rates combined with lower immigration levels. If both of these trends continue, they will lead to big changes down the road.”

William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed the census data, noted that government debates over immigration enforcement may now be less pressing, given slowing growth. “The current congressional and Supreme Court interest in reducing immigration—and the concerns especially about low-skilled and undocumented Hispanic immigration—represent issues that could well be behind us,” he said.

Minorities made up roughly 2.02 million, or 50.4 percent of U.S. births in the 12-month period ending July 2011. That compares with 37 percent in 1990.

In all, 348 of the nation’s 3,143 counties, or 1 in 9, have minority populations across all age groups that total more than 50 percent. In a sign of future U.S. race and ethnic change, the number of counties reaching the tipping point increases to more than 690, or nearly 1 in 4, when looking only at the under age 5 population.

The counties in transition include Maricopa (Phoenix), Ariz.;

King (Seattle), Wash.; Travis (Austin), Texas; and Palm Beach, Fla., where recent Hispanic births are driving the increased diversity among children. Also high on the list are suburban counties such as Fairfax, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, and Westchester, N.Y., near New York City, where more open spaces are a draw for young families who are increasingly minority.

According to the latest data, the percentage growth of Hispanics slowed from 4.2 percent in 2001 to 2.5 percent last year. Their population growth would have been even lower if it weren’t for their relatively high fertility rates—seven births for every death. The median age of U.S. Hispanics is 27.6 years.

Births actually have been declining for both whites and minorities as many women postponed having children during the economic slump. But the drop since 2008 has been larger for whites, who have a median age of 42. The number of white births fell by 11.4 percent, compared with 3.2 percent for minorities, according to Kenneth Johnson, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire.

Asian population increases also slowed, from 4.5 percent in 2001 to about 2.2 percent. Hispanics and Asians still are the two fastest-growing minority groups, making up about 16.7 percent and 4.8 percent of the U.S. population, respectively.

Blacks, who comprise about 12.3 percent of the population, have increased at a rate of about 1 percent each year. Whites have increased very little in recent years.

Other findings:

• The migration of black Americans back to the South is slowing. New destinations in the South, including Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., and Orlando, Fla., saw sharp drop-offs in black population growth as the prolonged housing bust kept African-Americans locked in place in traditional big cities. Metro areas including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco had reduced declines or gains.

• Nine U.S. counties in five states saw their minority populations across all age groups surpass 50 percent last year. They were Sutter and Yolo in California; Quitman in Georgia; Cumberland in New Jersey; Colfax in New Mexico; and Lynn, Mitchell, Schleicher and Swisher in Texas.

• Maverick County, Texas, had the largest share of minorities at 96.8 percent, followed by Webb County, Texas, and Wade Hampton, Alaska, both at 96 percent.

• Four states—Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Texas—as well as the District of Columbia have minority populations that exceed 50 percent.

The census estimates used local records of births and deaths, tax records of people moving within the U.S., and census statistics on immigrants. The figures for “white” refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity.

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Speaking after an owners’ meeting in New York, Selig said there’s no timetable for resolving Oakland’s dispute with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants are preventing the A’s from building a ballpark in San Jose, which is part of the Giants’ territory.

KCBS’ Mark Seelig Reports:

Asked whether he would approve a move by Oakland, Selig said “it just depends on where they’re moving to.”

Those remarks put South Bay baseball boosters in a pessimistic mood.

“It’s clear that any other sites would be outside the Bay Area, and it would be a shame,” said Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, an outspoken proponent of bringing the A’s to the South Bay.

Wolff has never publicly declared any intention to move the team outside the Bay Area, and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan remained confident the team would stay in the East Bay.

“It’s a question of who can build a baseball stadium in time for the end of the A’s lease, and I think at this point Oakland’s in the best spot. We have the funding, we have the place, we can do it on time,” said Quan.

A group of local business owners stands ready to buy the team or help finance a refurbished stadium at the Oakland Coliseum complex or another East Bay site.

Quan added the Coliseum was situated on prime real estate for a new stadium because of its proximity to Oakland International Airport, Interstate 880 and Bay Area Rapid Transit.

“We have the best location, maybe in the nation right now, for a baseball stadium,” she said.

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The governor’s chopping block includes plans to cut money for the court system as part of his laundry list of expenditures that will be affected.

People are already standing in line for one to three hours to pay a simple parking ticket. You might not be thinking of cutting court costs until you’re affected and standing in one of these long lines.

Then you come to find out about all the surcharges that have been added on to your ticket, including court construction and security fees, and it ends up doubling or tripling your fine.

Nonetheless, the judicial system is taking a hit and has been for a while. If these cuts go through (and they will, let’s face it; this is basically a one-way street hearing) you’ll see more reductions to the judicial system.

As for a solution to California’s piecemeal approach to the solving the budget deficit, there doesn’t seem to be one. We believe in the cliff approach to budgeting and democracy, where it’s all or nothing.

While the chief justice will address these cuts, it remains to be seen whether or not she’ll mention the half billion dollars the courts spent on a statewide computer system that went nowhere.

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California is expected to face shortfalls for the foreseeable future and in some cases the financial pain on Californians will persist.

For example, officials at the University of California are already considering plans to raise tuition by 6 percent this fall.

Cheryl Deutsch, a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, said UC will lose whether the tax initiative passes or fails.

The California State University system hiked tuition by 9 percent for the upcoming year and froze admissions for next spring.

Brown admits his tax hike is no panacea and is leaning on Democrats to make more cuts.

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The city stands to lose $7.8 million in federal HIV/AIDS funding in the fiscal year starting July 1st.

Among the supervisors urging the mayor to act was David Campos, who represents District 9.

“Every single cent that we’re trying to restore is a cent that is going to save lives,” said the supervisor who represents parts of the Mission, Bernal Heights and Portola neighborhoods.

KCBS’ Anna Duckworth Reports:

Supervisor Christine Olague, who represents District 5, said it was the obligation of the “three representatives of the queer community to strand strong behind this.”

The third supervisor was Scott Wiener of District 8 which includes the Castro.

Wiener said they’re working with the mayor whose budget proposal is due June 1st.

“We hope he’ll back them 100 percent. If not we’ll have to do the job when the budget comes through the Board of Supervisors,” Wiener said.

The Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center cares for and treats over 400 HIV positive Tenderloin residents. Lance Toma, the center’s executive director, said nearly $8 million from the Ryan White Care Act and the Centers for Disease Control allowed San Francisco to build an impressive but fragile network.

“It is like a tinker-toy structure. Remove a stick here and remove a spool there and it will crumble. Without this network, HIV will be a death sentence for our most vulnerable residents,” Toma said.

Dr. Joanna Eveland with the Mission Neighborhood Health Center said the loss of $7.8 million would be too great. Eveland said the services they provide simply aren’t supplemental and that scientific studies show they’re every bit as important as the prescriptions patients receive.

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California High-Speed Rail Authority chairman Dan Richard said during a Tuesday state Senate hearing that the exemption would avoid any legal delays caused by an injunction, a possibility as agriculture interests gear up for a court fight.

Richard had previously insisted the authority would not seek an outright exemption from state or federal environmental laws.

Richard stated at the hearing that if the project ends up in a lawsuit he would hope the matter would involve mitigations rather than an injunction.

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Hayes-White said she stopped paying spousal support to her ex-husband about 14 months ago following an incident in which her ex-husband, Robert White, grabbed and choked one of their sons while under the influence of alcohol.

KCBS, CBS 5 and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier:

White pleaded no contest in December to a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment and cruelty and was serving his sentence on a county sheriff’s detail and living in a rehab house.

A judge ruled last week that the city has to start deducting payments from Hayes-White’s $302,000 annual salary, though it’s still not clear if she will be asked to cover the thousands in backlogged payments.

It’s an interesting situation because of the ongoing battle between San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. Some of Mirkarimi’s supporters may cry foul because they said Lee is singling out Mirkarimi while the fire chief is also breaking the law. It is still unclear how Lee will respond to the situation.

The couple has a history of drama – in 2005, White called police to report that his wife hit him over the head with a pint glass in their San Francisco home. No charges were ever filed in that case.

You can hear Phil Matier’s comments Monday through Friday at 7:50am and 5:50pm on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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Proposition A’s backers include community activist Tony Kelly and retired Judge Quentin Kopp, who said the city’s current garbage company, Recology, has an unhealthy monopoly over San Francisco’s waste collection services thanks to a local law passed in 1932.

That law, which created a nonpartisan board to set the rates for the city’s garbage services, would be amended by Proposition A to set up competitive bidding for five different aspects of the services.

Companies would have to bid on separate contracts for residential collection, commercial collection, recovery and processing of recyclable materials, transfer and transportation of the residual waste, and disposal or conversion of that waste.

Kelly said Recology currently receives about $220 million annually from residential and commercial ratepayers in the city. He said that figure could be reduced by as much as 25 percent through competitive bidding.

He cites a 2011 report ordered by the city’s Local Agency Formation Commission that found that San Francisco was the only one of 71 Bay Area cities that did not have a franchise agreement with its garbage company.

“We’re really getting ripped off,” Kelly said.

However, the No on A campaign, funded primarily by Recology, argues that Proposition A would throw into turmoil a system that works.

“This is a system people are comfortable with,” said Brian Leubitz, outreach director for the campaign. “This measure would create confusion where there’s none now and really isn’t necessary.”

Leubitz pointed out that Recology’s current residential garbage rates are right around the Bay Area median and that the company “offers a service that’s really unmatched in the Bay Area,” including what it touts as a nation-leading 78 percent waste diversion rate.

He said Proposition A has brought together groups accustomed to opposing each other, from the local Democratic and Republican parties to labor and business councils, almost all of whom have come out against the proposal.

Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, six other supervisors, as well as state Sens. Mark Leno and Leland Yee and Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano and Fiona Ma are among the city and state officials who oppose the plan.

The ordinance was crafted “without the input of stakeholders or city officials in the type of transparency that San Francisco has found over the past few years really works best for the city,” Leubitz said.

He added that the proposal “offers no guarantee for lower rates but does guarantee an increased bureaucracy at City Hall” while also putting at risk around 900 existing garbage collection and disposal jobs.

Kelly acknowledged that the ordinance faces stiff opposition, likening its chances of passage to “the odds of Luke blowing up the Death Star” in the movie “Star Wars.”

He said, “If you’re trying to go up against a monopoly, they have a lot of resources. Why? Because they’re a monopoly.”

The ordinance needs majority approval to pass.

Proposition A is one of only two local measures on San Francisco’s ballot for the June 5 election.

The second, Proposition B, is an advisory, non-binding measure encouraging the city to limit commercial activities at Coit Tower, which is visited by more than 200,000 people annually.

Members of a group called the Protect Coit Tower Committee gathered signatures to get the measure on the ballot in response to San Francisco’s request last year for proposals by contractors to lease and operate the elevator, food and beverage concession stands and gift shop at the tower.

Along with leasing operations at the tower, the city would also allow contractors to hold private, late-night parties there.

Proposition B calls for strict limits on such events and for the revenue gained from the tower to be funneled toward preservation of the tower’s historic murals.

The San Francisco Parks Alliance is one of the groups opposing the measure, saying revenue from the tower should also go toward other parts of the city’s park and recreation system.

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The lawsuit, sponsored by nonprofit education reform group Students Matter, was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday against the state and Gov. Jerry Brown, as well as state education officials and two school districts: Los Angeles Unified and Alum Rock Union in San Jose.

The suit was filed on behalf of a 10-year-old student in the Alum Rock district and six Los Angeles Unified students.

KCBS’ Mike Colgan Reports:

The suit claims that school administrators are handcuffed by present laws, which makes it virtually impossible to get rid of ineffective teachers. The questioned statutes encompass procedures for seniority-based layoffs, teacher dismissal, and teacher tenure.

“The outdated laws in California prevent the recruitment, support and retention of the most effective teachers,” said plaintiff attorney Theane Kapur. “They force administrators to leave grossly ineffective teachers in the classrooms.”

Kapur said school districts in low income areas often have a disproportionate share of ineffective teachers.

“In fact, in some school districts, students of color are 2-3 times more likely to have teachers at the very bottom in terms of effectiveness than their peers,” she said.

The California Teachers Association said layoffs based on seniority were recently upheld by two administrative law judges.

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Judge Garrett Wong ruled that Eliana Lopez does not have standing to try to keep police or the district attorney from giving a copy of the video to the city attorney and then the commission.

Mirkarimi was suspended by Mayor Ed Lee after pleading guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment for a domestic dispute with Lopez on New Year’s Eve.

KCBS’ Doug Sovern Reports:

The video, which was taken by a neighbor on January 1st, shows Lopez crying and pointing to a bruise on her arm.

Wong ordered the video to be shared with the commission and refused a request by Lopez’s lawyer, Paula Canny, to keep the video from being distributed publicly.

In court on Tuesday, an irate Canny said she would appeal the decision, but Wong told her to stop talking and came close to finding her in contempt.

Outside of court, Canny said it’s wrong to victimize Lopez again by releasing the tape.

“It is unbelievable. Needless to say, Judge Wong doesn’t like me. That’s obvious,” said Canny. “I’m not going to state an opinion about what I think about him.”

The ethics commission will decide how to use and show the video as it hears official misconduct charges against the suspended sheriff.

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