Sacramento, Calif.
Finally, a budget: After wrangling for months, the California legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came to terms on a budget this week, agreeing on a framework that would close the state’s $26 billion shortfall. The measure cuts K–12 education funding by $6 billion, slashes $3 billion from the state’s university system, cuts $1.2 billion from the state’s prison system, and places a ceiling on welfare benefits. Legislators’ options were limited because Schwarzenegger and Republicans refused to consider a budget containing tax increases. The state has been essentially broke since the start of its fiscal year on July 1 and has used hundreds of millions of dollars in IOUs to pay vendors and state employees.
San Diego
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Squid invasion: Dozens of Humboldt squid, roughly 3 to 4 feet long and weighing up to 40 pounds, have washed up on San Diego beaches after a strong undersea earthquake. “It’s like their equilibrium is all messed up and they don’t know what they’re doing,” said Bill Baumann, who spotted the squid while walking along La Jolla Shores beach. Several beachgoers attempted to throw the creatures back into the water, but the heavy, slippery squid soon returned to shore. Authorities warned swimmers to avoid the creatures. “They’ve got a lot of suckers and claws and a parrot-like beak, and they can inflict some damage,” said lifeguard David Rains.
Juneau, Alaska
Palin ethics inquiry: In her last week as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin was slapped with a new ethics charge. Thomas Daniel, an investigator with the state ethics commission, said his review had concluded that Palin had improperly traded on her political office to raise money for a legal defense fund. Alaska law bars officials from using their offices to gain advantages unavailable to ordinary citizens. The matter now is expected to go to a formal hearing. At least 19 ethics complaints have been filed against Palin, but most were dismissed. In announcing her resignation earlier this month, the former Republican vice presidential nominee cited, among other things, the cost of battling ethics complaints she said were politically motivated. Palin called the new ruling “misguided and factually in error.”
Fayetteville, Tenn.
Multiple killer arrested: Police have arrested a 30-year-old man in a murder spree that left six people dead, including his wife. Jacob Shaffer was arrested at the home in Tennessee that he formerly shared with his estranged wife, Traci Shaffer, 38, who was reportedly stabbed to death, along with her son, Devin Brooks, and neighbor Robert Berber, both 16. The bodies of Traci’s brother, Chris Hall, 34, and father, Billy Hall, 57, were found in a nearby house. Earlier, police say, Jacob fatally beat Sidney Dempsey, 50, his former supervisor at an Alabama granite company owned by Traci Shaffer’s family. Police say Jacob has confessed to the crimes. “The motive of the killings is domestic,” said Kristen Helm of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Cambridge, Mass.
Professor arrested: A prominent African-American scholar was arrested this week on the porch of his Cambridge home by police who suspected he was attempting a break-in. A neighbor witnessed Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates attempting to force open his front door with the help of another black man—his driver—and called police. When the arriving officers demanded identification, Gates responded, “Why, because I’m a black man in America?” Gates, 58, who walks with a cane, did present ID, but after arguing with the officer was arrested for disorderly conduct, handcuffed, and jailed for four hours. The city has dropped all charges, but Gates wants the arresting officer to apologize. “If he admits his error,” he said, “I am willing to educate him about the history of racism in America and the issue of racial profiling.”
Washington, D.C.
Senate grounds F-22: President Obama scored a victory this week in his campaign to reform military spending, when the Senate voted 58–40 to strip $1.75 billion in funding for the F-22 fighter. Obama had threatened to veto the $680 billion defense authorization bill if it contained funds for the F-22. The plane, designed for aerial combat against Soviet fighters, has not flown a single mission in Iraq or Afghanistan because the desert sand damages its complex inner workings. Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have made the F-22 the centerpiece of their effort to shift defense priorities from conventional warfare to fighting insurgencies. They overcame fierce opposition from legislators representing districts where F-22 components are built.
