- Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman had at it last night in their final gubernatorial debate. The LA Times called the exchanges "contentious," the Mercury News dubbed them "sharp" and "feisty," and the Chronicle noted the candidates "tangled from the start." Listen to the entire event and post-debate analysis over at The California Report, and check out the Chronicle's Politics Blog for videos of both Brown and Whitman speaking after the event, held at Dominican University in San Rafael. Also: A fact-check from AP, and KQED Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers's take.
- A U.S. District Judge issued an injunction against the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, ordering the armed services to "immediately...suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge" of personnel. Judge Virginia Phillips of the Federal District Court for the Central District of California had earlier declared Don't Ask Don't Tell to be unconstitutional.
- Marcos and Cindy Zuniga go on trial this week in San Jose for resisting arrest during an incident in which a police officer tasered Cindy Zuniga and shot her husband, disfiguring his face for life. From the San Jose Mercury News:
The trial comes as San Jose police are reeling from intense scrutiny over what some say is an overly aggressive street policing style that research shows has led to racially disproportionate arrests and excessive force.
Last year, the Mercury News found San Jose charges far more people with resisting arrest, compared with its population, than any other major California city, and that a disproportionate number of those charged are Latino residents. A newspaper review of resisting-arrest court cases from 2008 also showed that force was used in more than two-thirds of those cases, often developing from minor encounters such as jaywalking and bicycle and traffic infractions.
Read last year's Mercury News resisting arrest investigation and watch a video report here.
- The Chronicle reports that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Christian schools "that want the University of California to grant college-prep credit for courses with religious viewpoints - using textbooks, UC says, that replace science with the Bible." Here's some background on the case from the University of California, and an entry on discrimination against religious schools from Conservapedia. You can also track the case's history--including the opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that now stands-- at SCOTUSblog.
- Yesterday Oakland Local reported that the city council was considering doubling the number of permitted marijuana dispensaries in Oakland from four to eight. Today, the Oakland Public Safety Committee unanimously approved that proposal, which would also increase the annual fees paid by licensed pot clubs from $30,000 to $60,000 each. The full city council will vote on the measure Oct. 19.
- The Dalai Lama spoke in San Jose yesterday. If you missed him, he'll be holding events in San Jose and Palo Alto through October 15. Here's a little slideshow of yesterday's talk from His Holiness' web site, and a whole lot of Dalai Lama photos posted on Flickr.
